The One and Only
by The Wandering Swordsman
Summary: AU.Ten years later,after some sick coincidence Sanji reunites with the man he hates.After meeting him,Sanji realizes the horrible effects of being blinded by love and he does everything to make the man see the truth.Z/S Kd/Lw Lcc/S.Mentions of non-con.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**A/N: This might be unbelievable but I am going to write a ZoroxSanji/ZoSan fic. Well, I had these little plot bunnies but they were not perfect so I left them alone. When I looked back, I saw that Plot Bunny A mated with Plot Bunny B, had a child named C and grew up to mate with D and made Plot Bunny ABCD. The reason why it's going to be a ZoroxSanji fic is because it had to be. **

**This plot has a setting in which when the world was created, same-sex marriage also existed.  
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-Prologue-

Sanji, Law, and Kidd returning home from a glorious night of the village festival. The black starry sky was blinded by the bright colors of the lanterns and made it almost as if the sun was out to play also. The sounds of the night were broken by the bright and happy songs played by villagers with a talent for music. There was dances, food, drinks, fun, and of course, beautiful men and women. New couples danced with light blushes on their cheeks when they happened to find their friends in the crowd. Couples who had been going out for many months danced like kings and queens in the middle of the square to show off both themselves and their significant other. Nubile men and women timidly approached other singles and asked for a hand in dance or a drink.

Whether they were a rich man, a poor man, a florist, a farmer, a midwife, a priest, a doctor, a bartender, it didn't matter. Everyone stripped off what they were for this one special night and enjoyed it like children playing in fresh snow.

The three were enjoying the festival just the same. A doctor, an engineer, and a cook were sitting together around a gigantic bonfire and watched the people twirl their hips and laugh merrily. Sanji was asked out by many young girls and men but Sanji shook his head on all of them. Law and Kidd were asked but they had each other so they had a reason to refuse the offer.

When asked why Sanji didn't want to dance, he just replied with a small smile, 'I'm waiting for someone to take this hand.'

When asked who, Sanji just lowered his head.

The hours flew by and the end came. People hugged and kissed each other good-bye and went to bed, ready to return to their lives. Kidd kissed Law farewell at a fork on the road. He headed to the southern side of the village where most handymen thrived. Law and Sanji took the other road where people who were on the wealthy side decided to live here to relax or spend the rest of their lives in peace.

Law's home stood on the far north side of the village. Surrounded by many luxurious homes, Law's home was flawless white with arch windows and silk curtains billowing softly by the gentlest winds. A small garden protected the home and the two stepped through the white iron fence to get in. Sanji visited Law's home every weekend to help him around the kitchen and worked as a volunteering nurse. Sanji glanced up to the window on the right side. The home was pitch dark except for that one room.

The two silently climbed up the stairs to the second floor. Law stood in front of the door and knocked on it twice before entering.

"We're home." Law said quietly as he stepped in with leisurely steps. Sanji followed but with heavier strides.

Sitting on an arm chair was a man. He was in his late twenties and had amazingly rare green hair. A thick book lay open on his lap and both of his hands were on a page. The man was fully relaxed in his chair and his head was titled toward the window toward the stars. Law and Sanji knew, however, that the man couldn't see any of those twinkling diamonds in the sky.

Upon the sound of Law's voice, the man turned and smiled, "Hey you guys. How was the festival?"

"Great." Law answered cheerfully, "I danced with Kidd eight times."

Sanji merely nodded, so Law nudged him hard in the ribs for him to utter something, "I-I had fun."

"That's good." The man nodded slowly, "So, Sanji-san, did you dance with anyone? There must have been someone who sparked your interest."

Sanji scratched his head shamefully, "No..."

"Not one?"

"No."

The man sighed and tilted his face so that he _looked_ like he was looking at him. "Sanji-san, I know it's only been two years since you lost your husband, but you should try finding someone new. Isn't that what this festival's for?"

Sanji shuffled his feet and mumbled something. Law caught it and shot a glare, but the patient caught it for his ears were extremely keen.

"What did you say?"

"...I-I wanted to dance with you Zoro."

The man widened his eyes a little before he let out a chuckle, "Again Sanji-san? What have I told you? Don't waste time on me or you'll grow unhappy. You know I have someone else on my mind."

"I-I know...but Zoro-"

"Good," Zoro smirked teasingly, "So Sanji-san, next year you better dance with someone or else I'm not going to eat dinner."

"-So you _better_ dance next year." Law snapped, "Zoro only eats the food you cook, the picky eater." Law's voice was harsh but he fell into silence because of pity.

Sanji straightened himself and grinned softly, "A-About dinner, are you hungry? I can cook soup for you."

Zoro peered down to his stomach as if he was using telepathy to speak to it, "I guess I would like some. Is it going to be peppered trout stew?"

"Yes."

"I love your stew." Zoro smiled happily, "It's always a pleasure to have you, huh Law?"

"Yes he is." Law answered simply. He tapped Sanji on the shoulder and on cue, they silently left the room. Once they closed the door, the bright mood the two had earlier from the festival vanished like a dying candle. Law still had vigor because of the enchanting memories of dancing with Kidd, but Sanji only sunk deeper in the abyss of sadness. The doctor gently patted the cook's back to ease the man's sorrow.

"Sanji...I-" Law frowned and bit his lip.

Sanji grew small as he stepped away from the room where the patient lived. Zoro was on his fifth year staying at Law's home because he wanted to cure his blindness. It was temporarily: Law had told Sanji that he became blind from the result of overwhelming stress. If Zoro was free of any pain, his eyes would naturally heal and he would see again.

During those times of waiting, Zoro had been thinking of someone. Decades ago, Zoro loved a man. He loved him, loved him too much that he had done something horrible to that person. He ended up losing the man he loved, his fame, and everything he had. The man was alive, but somewhere beyond Zoro's reach.

Sanji looked over his shoulder to the room where Zoro stayed. The patient always lapsed into a peaceful silence whenever he dreamed of the man he loved.

The man's name was Sanji.


	2. Ch 1 Reunited and it Feels so Horrible

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**A/N: A bit of a warning. There is a character death.  
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**Also, on the summary it says, 'mention of rape.' It means that I'll say the words 'rape' but I won't write a rape scene.  
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A cold breeze swept through and made dead leaves dance. The leaves swirled lifelessly down the unused roads to either get caught in the grass or by puddles from the recent rain. The wind traveled far and trees whispered secret messages to each other and thin clouds swept across the blue sky. The spring wind finally made its way to the graveyard where a mass of people held a funeral that day. The naughty little zephyr slithered though the black dresses and coats and made the wearers try to hold their clothes down. It sailed up to brush strands of golden hair before it returned to the sky above.

Sanji Rob put a hand up to his face to straighten up his hair. His vision was obscured by the dark black veil covering his face. Around him, everyone was sniffling as men shoveled up dirt to cover a coffin down below. Sanji's dark blue eyes only saw the surface of the coffin and the person inside it. Lucci Rob, a member of the CP9, a good friend, and most of all Sanji's husband, died today. He was only twenty-eight years old.

Sanji wasn't able to hear the whole story on how his husband died, since his job was strictly confidential. The cook knew that and he also knew how dangerous Lucci's job was, but he never uttered a word against it. Lucci loved the job, just as much as Sanji loved to cook.

He felt a presence and turned to a man in a black suit. His short dark orange hair stood out from the dismal atmosphere, but his long squared nose won the whole attention. Today, however, that nose looked strangely natural.

"Kaku..." Sanji whispered.

"I...I'm sorry for your loss..." Kaku started in a formal greeting, although they had known each other since childhood, "How are you feeling lad?"

Sanji blankly stared at Kaku's nose for a moment. He shrugged, "I don't know...It happened all so soon."

There was a harsh sniffle and Sanji saw that Kaku burst into tears and he was trying to hold them down. The poor man was sensitive in these types of situations, even though he went through excruciating training to express no emotion.

"I'm sorry Sanji," Kaku managed to say through his sobs, "I- If only I used _shigan_ earlier-!"

Sanji shook the younger frame's shoulders, "Stop, don't do this to yourself. It wasn't your fault." Kaku lifted his face and the cook saw those dark lively eyes reddened by tears. Sanji brought him close and hugged him. Kaku buried his face in Sanji's chest and tried to kill his crying. He attempted to talk to ease his sadness.

"...aren't you sad Sanji?"

Sanji squeezed Kaku, "I am." His voice told something else. Then, he was indeed sad. When a voice different from Lucci's handsome, velvety voice spoke through his home Den-Den Mushi, Sanji froze in consternation. He couldn't believe Lucci had died until he saw his body. If he closed his eyes, he could remember that day clearly.

He had rushed into the town hospital because the caller told him that was where Lucci's body was. When he entered the tiny room, he saw Lucci's group waiting for him: Kaku, Jyabura, Kalifa, Fukurou, Bruno, Kumadori, and Nero. Everyone was either covered in bandages or bruises from the special mission. They were all standing around a table where Sanji's husband lay. The instant Sanji entered, Kalifa shielded her face and began to cry. Fukurou and Kumadori were crying like waterfalls while the rest were standing firm, waiting on Sanji's cue to show such emotion.

Sanji slowly approached the table and uncovered the sheet that covered Lucci's beautiful face. The face stunned him. The man was not covered in blood or other gory images Sanji had in store. Lucci looked like he was in a peaceful slumber.

That day, Sanji cried, but not as much as he thought he would.

He didn't know why.

-.-.-

It had been a month since Lucci's death but still Sanji wore black. Things were coming back to shape. A week after the funeral, Sanji went back to work: opening the village café and running around the kitchen yelling orders while cooking some dishes. He grew social again and friends approached him tentatively. The only thing missing was Lucci. There was an empty hole in his heart and that hole always made Sanji sigh. Was this how it felt when people lose the one they love? It wasn't as dramatic as how the movies show it.

"Boss," one of his chefs called from across the room, "table three wants to speak with you."

Sanji assumed it was compliments about his dishes so he straightened his hair and suit and left the kitchen brawl. When he came to the table, there sat a wonderful young lady. She wore a light tan suit with two pearl earrings on both her ears. She pushed her orange hair behind her ear and greeted him with a sweet smile, "Long time no see, Sanji-kun."

"N-Nami-san..." Sanji suddenly felt like a young boy telling an older woman she was beautiful. Nami was named the queen at his high school and he, along with many genders, loved her. Joyous memories returned and Sanji couldn't help but chuckle on remembering a time when Lucci turned sour whenever Sanji told him how pretty Nami was. The conversation ended up with Lucci on top of him, telling him to shut up with kisses.

Sanji eyed the chair, "May I?"

"If you're not busy." Sanji looked over to the kitchen. Today wasn't exactly one of the busy times so his crew could handle it. If they really needed his help, they knew to call him. Sanji sat across her and gazed at her beauty. She hadn't changed since the last time they met, which was nearly eight years ago. The only difference was that she had a silver ring around her ring finger, which she was twirling it around from time to time.

"How have you been?" Sanji started.

"I'm fine as always." Nami smiled, but then turned sober, "H-how are you doing? I'm sorry I couldn't go to the funeral..."

"It's alright. Lucci will understand. He would have gone jealous if you did." He chuckled lightly. Nami tried to follow his laughter but hers ended up weak.

Sanji glanced at Nami's ring, "I never knew you married."

"Yes...just this February."

Sanji smiled. He loved to hear conversations about people falling in love. "Congratulations." Nami nodded and a faint blush formed on her cheeks, "May I ask who you married to?"

The young woman suddenly let out a giggle, "You'll never guess."

"Who?"

"Guess."

"I absolutely have no clue."

Nami sighed but her face was full of happiness, "It's Luffy."

"Luffy?" Sanji widened his eyes, "The kid who only cared about eating? Wow. How did this happen?"

"Well, we coincidentally met each other a year ago and after hanging out for a while, Luffy asked if he wanted to marry me and I just said 'yes.'" Nami covered her lips to muffle her giggles, "Love is a strange thing isn't it?"

"It is." Sanji agreed silently.

Nami picked up her spoon and swirled the plate of soup, "Is this the famous peppered trout stew everyone's talking about?"

"Yeah, my original recipe."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it's a hassle because only I can make it, so I have to come here early in the morning to make a batch. It's really limited. You're lucky to eat this at this hour."

"I have always been lucky." She grinned. "I heard that lots of people come all over the country to eat this."

"You read the _Delicious! Gazette_?"

"I did and that's how I found you. But Sanji-kun," Nami dipped the tip of her spoon and made little circles, "have you thought of going out to the big world? Wasn't it your dream to create your own restaurant-not this small café in a middle of the countryside?"

The blond blushed. He did boast to all of his friends and classmates about his dream goal. He had told him the name of the restaurant, the specific furniture he was going to place, the location of the restaurant, and his recipes. The cook chuckled lightly and threaded his hands together.

"Dreams change."

"Sanji-kun," Nami pressed, "I-I'm sorry to say this, but now you're single you can do whatever you want now. You should try and reach for that dream."

"Oh I don't know-"

"You should." Nami's tone of voice grew demanding, "You're still-what-twenty-seven! You have many years ahead and I don't want to see you cooped up in the countryside! Besides it doesn't match your character!"

Sanji chuckled, "I thank you for your gratification Nami-san but-"

"So here," Nami clicked open her purse and laid a piece of paper in front of him, "This is an application form for the Baratie Restaurant." Sanji's eye almost popped out of his sockets at the name. "I heard how difficult it is to even getting _hired_ there, but if you submit one of your recipes, maybe they'll consider. Why don't you try submitting this?" She pointed at the stew.

"Do you think they'll accept my stew?" Sanji was surprised to hear his voice so excited.

"I think they will. They probably heard about the great reviews about your soup, they'll just too full of pride to bring their butts over here. This is the first step Sanji-kun! You need to get recognized. If you get hired, you'll learn the tips of cooking and how to work around the place. Maybe Baratie will help you if you decide to open your own restaurant."

"Thank you Nami-san." Sanji held the application form as it was a golden ticket, "I'll try it."

Nami beamed, feeling accomplished, "Remember Sanji-kun, live life happily."

-.-.-

Sanji laid sprawled on the king sized bed where Lucci and he had shared together. The silent room awoke to the sound of the Den-Den Mushi. The blond man outstretched his arm to click the receiver out of the shell.

"Hello?"

"This is the Baratie Restaurant and we would like to speak to Mr. Sanji Rob."

All of a sudden, Sanji sat upright, "Yes! That will be me."

"We have received your paperwork and the recipes for the peppered trout stew. Would you be able to visit us and show us a demonstration?"

"Oh y-yes, I would!"

The voice on the other side seemed to smile, "Would next week at noon be alright with you?"

"Yes, definitely." Sanji paused, "Oh wait."

"Yes?"

"Is this place located at-" Sanji stated the address Nami had given him to send the application.

"Oh, no that is the mailing address specifically for application purposes. Here is the address to get to Baratie."

Sanji deftly scribbled the names on a random piece of paper he found nearby, "Thank you very much."

"We hope to see you at the Baratie." Sanji waited until the Den-Den Mushi closed its eyes before he shouted out in joy. Thanks to Nami, he was really taking his first steps to create his own restaurant. Because of marriage and becoming a househusband, he had to abandon the huge dream. He was content working at the café for the rest of his life, but Nami was right. He needed to treasure and enjoy life.

If only Lucci was here...

Sanji shook his head to clear the gloomy thoughts and searched for a map. He needed to know where the main restaurant was. Sanji unfolded many maps, running his finger across the wavy lines of roads and streets.

"Wait..." Sanji froze and reread the address. The city in which the Baratie Restaurant located was in Rogue City. He glared at the town's name with utmost hate.

"...what a nightmare..."

Rogue Town was the most modernized city in the country. Many people went there to accomplish their dream or find a good workplace. For many, Rogue Town was a place to start a new life. For Sanji, it was the place where he entered as a naïve fool and left dark, gloomy, and violated.

Nine years ago, Sanji went to Rogue Town to get an education at the Grand Line University. There, he was raped by a man. If Sanji ever saw that man, he would surely kill him, but the government was on the man's side. The man had the power because he was the boss of a prosperous company called the Wado Corporation. Sanji used to have their goods and items because the Wado brands were in great shape even after being used for several years. Now, Sanji didn't even have one of the Wado items because of the incident.

Fortunately Lucci, who joined the CP9, had complete authority and was able to sue _and_ get millions of dollars for winning the argument. Since then Sanji refused to enter the prosperous city of Rouge Town and never saw the man again.

Sanji squeezed the map with anger, "Zoro Roronoa..." He prayed he wouldn't meet him.

-.-.-

Sanji prepared necessary steps before heading out to the real world. The first step, which saddened his heart so, was to leave his cherished café. Many fans would be disappointed to hear that his famous dish was erased off the menu. His co-workers waved handkerchiefs as he said good-bye and gave his right handed man the new title of the head chef. Next, he counted up his money he had saved working at the café and subtracted the amount for train tickets, food, clothing, and a few days rest at a hotel at Rogue he had already reserved. Finally, he wrote a letter to Nami saying that he had passed the first test and thanked her with many kisses (in writing) and hugs (in writing) for helping him. When he was ready to leave, his co-workers met him at the train station to see their ex-head chef depart to the new world, a new life.

It was a cold, crisp morning when Sanji got out of the train. He carried necessary items and of course his treasured pots and pans. He flipped open a tiny note he scribbled down the nearby roads to the restaurant, To Sanji's chagrin, the restaurant located nearby the rumored Wado Corporation. These were times when life was a heartless asshole.

He appeared at the restaurant in time and was appalled to the size of the building. It was as large as a hotel lobby. In that hotel lobby sized restaurant there was the largest kitchen Sanji had ever seen. The university kitchen was like a child's kitchen play set compared to here. Here, Sanji and a few other applicants stayed in the kitchen and used whatever necessary to create the dish to present to the administrators.

Sanji's nerves were jittering like crazy. He noticed that the other cooks were just as anxious as him because they were making some mishaps that usually only amateurs would do. They worked silently and efficiently and the time ticked by quickly to them but slowly to the judges waiting in the restaurant tables.

Sanji was the fourteenth person to go and present his dish. He started to sweat as cooks before him left the kitchen. He was complete and all ready to go, but the nervous butterflies fluttered in his stomach. If he messed this up he would have to find some other way to reach his dream and that would take longer and harder steps.

_Nami-san helped me get this far, so now it's my turn._ Sanji took few calming breaths and patiently waited.

"Number Fourteen," Sanji flinched when he heard a female voice, "You are next."

Sanji and an assistant carefully carried the tray of soup and headed to the restaurant. There were a total of five judges and all had hard looks. The blond felt intimidated but he kept his firm stance. He stood there, trying not to move a muscle, as the judges sipped the soup, poked and cut the trout into tiny pieces, and ate them. Sanji felt relieved when all of the judges drank all of the stew. Hopefully that meant a good thing.

He clasped his hands behind his back and twirled with a black beaded bracelet. It was a gift Lucci gave him on their first date.

"Mr. Rob, is it?"

Sanji straightened up, "Y-yes."

The judges shared glances and the judge in the middle spoke. Everyone had tall chef hats, but his was the tallest. His braided beard was also very long.

The wrinkles on the man's face stretched as he smiled. "The taste and the balance of the stew and trout are perfect. You can go far with your talent-and we will help you get there. We would love to have you in the Baratie."

Sanji took a second to register what the man said. He stiffened up and he almost burst into tears right there and then. He gave a quick, nervous bow, "T-thank you very much."

The chefs began barraging him with rules and regulations before Sanji left. Sanji bent his head down again because if he looked up he would be smiling like a child on Christmas morning. He was skipped out of the restaurant with lighted feet. All he needed to do was to wait until next week and then he would be a true chef at the Baratie. Then, after a few years or so saving up his money, (Sanji calculated to be between five and seven years) he would leave Baratie and open his own restaurant on the coast of All Blue. He imagined the restaurant to have two sides: one side viewing the gorgeous oceanic scene and the other would be a bar with a gigantic aquarium with many exotic fishes. He would cook using the world's best ingredients and his original recipes. That was his paradise.

His thoughts were broken to the cacophonic sounds of a car buzzing by. Sanji stopped at the crosswalk and looked around his surroundings. He had taken the wrong turn. Sick coincidence, but Sanji stood right in front of the Wado Corporation building. It was a skyscraper with a total of three hundred floors. The building was shining with the thousands of windows reflecting the sunlight. He glared at the building and a thought suddenly formed in his mind.

If the Wado Corporation was still working did this mean the man still worked here? Did the people forgave him for what he had done to him? The thought bubbled up demonic anger in Sanji. He suddenly wanted to enter the building and call for a boss and hope it wasn't the rapist. If it was, well Sanji was going to have fun tearing him up into pieces. The man deserved it because he ruined Sanji's life. If he never existed then Sanji might have gotten his dream restaurant sooner. Instead, he was forced to drop out of the university before getting any degree whatsoever. The man was able to stay at the university because money was on his side.

...but there was a tiny voice inside his heart that wanted to see if the man was alright. Sanji ignored the last voice and stormed into the building.

He walked through the busy lobby to the receptionist. The lady was young and was busy on the Den-Den Mushi. He gazed at her cute face. She had faint makeup splashed on her eyes and cheek and her lips were a soft shade of pink. He waited patiently until she finished her call.

She looked up and smiled, "How may I help you?"

Sanji forced a smile to look like a nice guy to hide his killing rage, "May I see Mr. Roronoa? I would like to have a word with him?"

The lady blinked a few times. She looked worried, "I-I'm sorry. I don't think Mr. Roronoa is available..."

_Oh, so the man did leave._ Sanji seemed relieved but at the same time he was disappointed. He thanked her and turned on his heels to leave.

"Are you looking for Mr. Roronoa?" Sanji turned to the voice. A man with dark skin with half lidded eyes stared at him curiously. The man wore a hideous patterned suit that was all too tight around his neck. "I am Yosaku, the co-executive of the Wado Corporation. You said you wanted to meet with Mr. Roronoa? Are you a friend of his?"

Suddenly Sanji felt rigid. He just entered halfheartedly and now he regretted it. "Er, no...I-I'm fine-"

"Unfortunately, Mr. Roronoa had to resign for specific reasons."

Sanji suddenly turned dark and he spat, "Is it because of the rape incident?"

The man was surprised, "Yes...but that isn't the main reason."

"Hm? Then what is it?"

"C-can we talk about this outside?" Sanji frowned but decided he grew curious as to why he resigned at a young age. That man was two years older than him so he should be twenty-nine this year. There was no reason for him to quit unless he did something relentless. Sanji was taken out of the building and to the side of a clothes store.

Yosaku looked both ways before whispering in the man's ear, "Mr. Roronoa became blind."

"B-blind?" Sanji repeated and was rudely hushed by Yosaku, "How?"

"There was internal bleeding in his head and the blood clot added pressure to the nerves around his eyes. He had done surgery to remove the blood clot and it succeeded, yet he still cannot see a thing. Now doctors are saying it's probably mental stress...from work and maybe the incident that nearly ruined his status." Sanji clenched his teeth at the word _nearly_. "He resigned in hopes to find a cure to his blindness. I think it took him five years to finally find a good doctor."

"Five years?" Sanji gasped and then he made a face. Why did he suddenly felt sympathy over that man? His voice grew dry, "He's been blind for that long?"

"Yes, but even though he found the right doctor there isn't much improvement. Pardon me for asking but if you are free, would you visit him this weekend and maybe _cheer him up_? He doesn't have many visitors and the place is so rural, he is getting a bit lonely." It appeared that Yosaku thought that Sanji was Zoro's close friend. The man pulled out a notepad, wrote something, and tore out the page, "This is the home Mr. Roronoa's staying at currently. I think he'll be glad to meet you."

_Of course he'll be glad to meet me. He loved me so much he raped me._

"Thanks." For the first time during the conversation, Yosaku smiled. Upon this, Sanji's stubborn frame faltered and he smiled back. The man bowed and headed back to his work. Sanji stared at the tiny piece of paper with grimace. The man wasn't in Rogue; well that was a good sign. The man was an idiot for asking him to do this. Why didn't he ask for his name? _Like boss, like co-executive_ he guessed with indignation. He crumbled the paper in his hand and searched for the trash bin. When he found one, he headed toward it with great speed. He came here to start a new life, not to return to the horrid nightmare. That man was nothing to him anymore.

'_...he is getting a bit lonely...'_ Yosaku's words suddenly appeared in his head. Sanji's fist froze over the trash bin. He ordered the hand to open but it did not obey. The man's words were preventing it.

"Shit!" Sanji cursed and stuffed the note in his pocket and marched to the train station.

He really hated life.

-.-.-

The train to Syrup Village was long and dreadful. The scenery dramatically changed from urban skyscrapers, concrete roads, and people to fields, rivers, and forests. Many times Sanji debated whether he should get off on the next stop, but Yosaku's words prevented him to. The metallic clanging of the train sounded like deadly chants as he inched his way closer to hell.

The trip between Rogue and Syrup was a day long, so Sanji had to sleep in the room quarters. Luckily there weren't many people heading to the suburban neighborhood so he had the quarters all to himself. As Sanji pulled the covers over his head he wondered, 'why the hell did I get here in the first place?' and 'damn you Yosaku!'

That night, Sanji dreamed of something extremely eerie and frightening.

Sanji stood at an unfamiliar place. Everywhere he looked was mixed shades of gray and he couldn't tell where the sky and the ground met. When he took his first step, he saw something flying at him at top speed. He leaped to avoid getting hit and he crashed onto the cold gray floor. As the object soared right over his head, Sanji saw that it was a colossal navy blue velvet box. Its mouth was open and he saw a glittering diamond ring the size of an elephant.

The box zoomed away like a rocket and disappeared into the gray horizon. Sanji thought it was safe to stand up when he saw more object zooming past him.

"Wah!" Sanji shouted as he jumped past a merry-go-round that was spinning in a horrifying speed and children were sitting on the ride, laughing mechanically. He shielded his head as a humongous stage with his favorite rock band mixing all of his favorite songs into one nasty tune. He dodged all of the plates of exotic food that shot at him like missiles. White satin table cloths, napkins, curtains, and a wedding suit tangled up around Sanji's body and in frenzy, he tore them into pieces. In this chaotic mess, a wave materialized out of nowhere and it crashed into all of the objects, even Sanji. He was tossed and turned as he was swept away with the strong current and the merry-go-round, the stage, the food-all washed away with him.

As he heard screams and laughter amongst the crashing waves, he saw the velvet box again and he climbed onto it for safety. Using debris, he paddled feverishly to avoid a monstrous cruise ship that sailed past, nearly running him and the velvet box over. The waves of the cruise ship splashed over Sanji, but he held on to the box so he wouldn't get washed away. He wiped away his hair sticking onto his face and glared up at the sky and paled. The gray sky and a gigantic silhouette came into view. The giant leaned toward Sanji and saw the familiar green hair and the sharp gray eyes that were fueled with menace.

'Why?' the giant asked in his booming voice that nearly tore Sanji's eardrums.

"Because I love someone else!" Sanji screamed as loud as his voice can carry, "I never liked you! Get the fuck away from me Zoro!"

The man's expression darkened and his large hand reached out. The hand hovered over him and the velvet box and he let out a scream when he was blinded by darkness.

"Uwaaaah!" Sanji screamed and sat upright, resulted him hitting his head on the low ceiling. The blond bent down to recover. Sweat that poured out of his skin began to cool against his drenched attire. He shivered, both from cold and fear, and huddled close. He covered his mouth because he felt like throwing up.

Why was he doing this? Why did he have to do this? What did he do to deserve this punishment?

He squeezed his eyes as he tried to erase it. He over lapped it with a better memory, the day after the incident. Everyone in the Cipher Pol 9, except Lucci, approached Zoro and kept him away, threatening him if he did. Lucci didn't participate in it because he stayed at Sanji's side, comforting him and easing his pain. Those memories gave Sanji splendid dreams and so he slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

The day broke and Sanji stepped out and into the train station. He took a breath of fresh air. It cooled his lungs like ice.

"This fucking sucks." After quarreling with his mind to change his mind, he reached Syrup Village. He ran to the time schedule and skimmed through the hours, "Damn, I have three hours." Should he wait here until the time arrived or take a tiny (very tiny) peak at Zoro? The first was the better choice, but what if Yosaku called Zoro saying that a friend was visiting? The idea to see the man disappointed pleased Sanji but it didn't feel really good. Sanji cursed at Yosaku and stormed into the town.

Sanji stepped through the road, glancing at the note and the street names. Why did he come all this way for? Was it because he felt the pity in Yosaku's smile and his feeble attempts to please his former boss? What was the merit for Sanji? It was lower than meaningless. He could turn around and forget this whole thing. If he got any closer to him, Sanji was going to encounter something that he might dread over.

He passed the stores and to a fork in the road. He glanced up at his note and took the North side. Suddenly, the scenery began to change. There were still thick forests with luscious greenery, but in between there stood Victorian homes. Sanji gawked at the sight as he passed each one of them. All of them were tall and had a clean, sophisticated air to it. Most of them were painted white with large iron fences. Many of them had an acre of flowers in many sizes and colors. These were like the homes Sanji saw superstars had.

Finally Sanji stopped at what looked like a mansion for the houses' size was twice as big. He read the golden block letters on the gate: "Law's Clinic." Right next to the letters sat a mini Den-Den Mushi. The blond stuffed the note in his pocket and pressed the little creature.

"Ring~" the little Den-Den Mushi sang. The creature began singing a whole measure of something and Sanji impatiently waited for it to stop. When it finally finished with a soprano 'A' the gate suddenly slid open. Sanji hesitated first, weighing the cost and benefits, and somehow with miscalculations he stepped in. Once the gates closed automatically Sanji felt trapped.

He fell into the lion's nest on his own. What could he do now? Lucci wasn't going to save him anymore.

"You're late!" Sanji jumped to the shout, "I told you to come at eight you fool!" A young man dashed toward Sanji with great speed. He grabbed Sanji by the arm and dragged him through the rose garden. As Sanji tried to wring his arm free, but the man's grip was strong. He warily looked at the man who was taking him captive. It wasn't Zoro, thank god, but who the hell was he?

The man had dark tattoos etched all over his arms, hands, and fingers like exotic artwork. There were dark bags under the man's eyes and it was quite daunting especially when the man was furious. Finally a black spotted hat donned on his head. The first thing that came in Sanji's mind was he was from a dangerous group, so in a panic, Sanji slammed his fist in the man's side.

"Urg! What are you doing?"

"What the hell are _you_ doing?" Sanji screamed, relieved that the man stopped, "Yelling at me for no fucking reason and dragging me like some lame ragdoll!"

The man examined Sanji from top to bottom and raised an eye, "...you're not the new nurse?"

"I'm no nurse. I'm a chef." Sanji snapped, "Who the hell are you?"

The man scratched his head, "Oh my bad. Um...nice to meet you. I'm Law Trafalgar, the doctor of this town."

"You're a what?"

"Yeah, I hear that a lot." Law crossed his arms, "You seem new around here. Are you a new resident in the North?"

"No. I came here to...meet someone."

"Hm, we weren't expecting any visitors today." _So Yosaku didn't call!_ Sanji gritted his teeth. _I should have left when I had the time!_ "But since you're here, I'll let you in. What's your name by the way?"

"Sanji." Sanji reluctantly replied. When he looked at the doctor, he was surprised to see the man frozen on the spot. The cook irked at the intense stare. "W-what?"

"A-Are you by chance Sanji Black?"

Black was Sanji's last name before he married. Sanji didn't like how this was going. "Y-yeah..."

"And did you used to attend Grand Line University to major in culinary arts but dropped out because of _certain_ reasons you might not want to talk about?"

"Y-yeah..."

Law suddenly fell silent as he mulled over his thoughts. Sanji, on the other hand, was trying to find a way to get the hell out of here.

"This might work...hey Sanji-"

"No thank you."

"What? I didn't say anything yet."

"Because I know what you're going to say. I am not here to make Zoro happy. I have never forgiven him for what he has done to me and never will. I'm just here because his co-worker, or whatever, forced me too. Once I see his face, I'll leave."

"Well, could you at least say 'hi' to him?" Law's frown tightened, "He isn't doing well in his recovery so he's kind of bummed. He needs some...encouragement."

First Yosaku and now this doctor? How much money did Zoro bribe them? Sanji hated how this was going, oh so much, but he could not back down.

"A-All right...I will do that," Sanji said through clenched teeth, "but that's all!"

Law seemed relieved, "Thank you man." He gestured a hand, "Right this way."

As Law led Sanji down the hallway and up the stairs, he asked a few questions. It was directly to the point and it embarrassed Sanji. "So, why did you suddenly come here? I thought you hated him."

"I told you. His co-worker forced me to."

"Really? If I were you, I would have never come here. You're such a naïve idiot."

Sanji scoffed, pissed on how easily Law was able to read through his mind. "Thanks for the compliment."

"You're welcome." He turned away from Law to look around the clinic. Sanji noticed that the hospital was just like any other home. The first floor contained a roomy country kitchen, a dining room with a table for five people, and the living room with comfortable couches. As they ascended the stairs, there were picture frames decorated on the walls and flower vases were placed on every drawer.

"This is a hospital right?"

"Yeah, but I'm a traveling doctor. I go to every home to check and hand them medicine. That way, people with severe illness or disabilities can stay at their homes. Only patients who really need my attention stay here." Law stopped at a door. This one stood out from the rest of them because the door was a size bigger and had golden trimmings around it.

Law knocked on it twice, "Zoro, I'm coming in. I brought in a visitor. You'll be surprised to hear who it is." Sanji shot a glare at Law and the doctor only tartly smiled.

When the door opened, Sanji was first blinded by the sunlight. Once he adjusted to the brightness he was able to look into the room. Everything was white as snow. A large glass window was right in front of them, and all of the sunlight entered through the cozy room. Bookshelves surrounded the room and many books were piled on top of each other on a table. From afar, the pages on the book looked blank but Sanji saw ridges and bumps on the surface. There were two armchairs and one was occupied. Sanji's frame suddenly shook at the sight of the man. The man had changed since the last time they met. The short green hair was longer and some fell on his shoulders. He had a few wrinkles around his eyes and lips and only was apparent when the man smiled. The gray eyes that were full of youth were dimmed by the blindness. Sanji averted his eyes and gripped his racing heart.

Law noticed Sanji's quivering and whispered in his ear, "You'll be alright. If anything happens, I'll protect you." Sanji heard him whisper, 'I highly doubt it though,' but the blond didn't believe him. If a man raped once, he would do it again.

"Hey Law. Who's the visitor?" Zoro asked. He faced the two but his eyes were not looking at them.

Law nudged Sanji, "Say something. He can't see you and he could only recognize by voice."

Sanji hesitated greatly. Zoro's voice was kind and soothing. It had changed also but the sight of the man brought the memories back. He hated the man. He hated him to guts. He wanted to strangle him to death, cursing at him how he destroyed his dream and how he was glad that he became blind. Law looked worried and waved his hand around the cook, signalizing him to speak.

"...H-Hi Zoro..." Sanji spat, glaring at the ground.

There was a moment of silence and the cook wondered what the matter was. He took a peek at the patient. The man stayed in his chair comfortably in his seat. He didn't gasp or cry out at the sound of his voice. Zoro only blinked and those dead eyes scrutinized Sanji.

Then Zoro smiled, "Law, who is this?"

**To Be Continued**


	3. Ch 2 He's not you, but he is he

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

Sanji was paralyzed. He diverted his eyes from Zoro and to the fluffy white carpet.

"Zoro? Do you not recognize this voice?" Law asked with a bewildered tone.

Law nudged Sanji again and this time Sanji quickly answered, "Z-Zoro?"

Zoro thought about it for a while and then laughed, "Ah, is it the new nurse you've been talking about?"

"No, no. I have no idea where that asshole is." Law panicked, "Zoro, you can't tell who this is?"

The green haired man shook his head sadly, "I've heard of it before, but it doesn't ring a bell."

Law opened his mouth to speak when Sanji cut in, "It's Sanji, Zoro! Don't you remember? You've met me at Grand Line University and you loved me, and asked me out and you...you-"

Zoro's eyes smiled, "Wow Law, you told him everything didn't you?"

"Zoro," Law continued with an even tone, "no, Zoro. This is the real Sanji Black. The one you had a crush on for decades."

The patient blinked a few times at Law and then at Sanji. For a second, there was light in Zoro's eyes and Sanji thought he finally acknowledged who he was. Then, to Sanji's astonishment, Zoro burst into light chuckles. "Oh god Law! That's the cleverest joke I've ever heard! But if you want to trick me, you need to do better than that!" Zoro coughed in his hand to stop his laughter, but he was still chuckling, "You know that Sanji hates me. He'll never come here."

"No Zoro! He is here right now! This is Sanji-"

Zoro's expression turned cold and the two stilled. "Enough Law. A joke is only funny the first time." Law sulked like a punished five year old boy. The hard tone in the man's voice disappeared and it was soft and gentle again, "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I feel much better now." He made an effort to face Sanji, but he was off by a few inches to the left. "I'm sorry that you were involved in this silly prank sir. What is your name?"

Sanji's body was shaking. Zoro couldn't recognize him. This was definitely not the reaction he wanted to see. Was this how a person felt when they faced their old friend who got amnesia? What freaked his heart was that Zoro assumed that Sanji would never come here because he hated him. This was true; Sanji would have never approached this place if Yosaku never dragged him into this, if he didn't pass the test and wander mindlessly from bliss, and if Nami never encouraged him to apply for the Baratie. For some reason, his heart shuddered and leavened with sadness.

"Excuse me," Zoro titled his head to the side, "What is your name sir?"

"S-Sanji Rob." Once the name left his mouth he realized that Zoro never knew he married, so he didn't know his last name had changed. He tried to correct it, but it was too late.

Zoro let out a sigh of realization and he chuckled, "Oh now I see. Law, you were jumping to conclusions. His name and _his voice _are the same but he's a complete stranger to me." Sanji's heart thundered again. Zoro raised a hand, "My name is Zoro Roronoa, but you can call me Zoro."

Sanji moved like a puppet on strings as he shook hands with Zoro. His mind went blank and couldn't find his way out of it.

"So...did you just come here because Law mistaken you for someone else?"

"Er, no Zoro. He uh-" Law started after Zoro's glare left his body, allowing him to move again.

"No." Sanji started and his mouth seemed to move on its own. He wanted it to stop but it went on, blabbering to what Sanji thought it was nonsense, "I-I came here to become your nurse, Zoro."

Zoro's eyes widened in minute surprise, "So you are the new nurse! Well it's a pleasure to have you Mr. Rob." From the corner of Sanji's eye, he could see Law staring at him with a deadly glare. Sanji brought his attention back to Zoro and he smiled nervously, but realized he really didn't need to since the man was blind.

"Thank you...and you can call me Sanji, Zoro."

Zoro nodded, "Alright then, _Sanji-san_. I will remember that from now on." Sanji's throat tightened when he heard the special affix behind his first name. It felt as if someone had his hands wrapped around his throat and strangled him, but he knew he was doing this to prevent himself from crying. Was it because a former rapist couldn't see him? That didn't make sense at all. "Well, I'll be taking a nap now, so will you please excuse the room?"

"Do you need help?" Law asked politely, but it had an undertone of anger-to Sanji of course.

"Oh please Law. I can walk on my own." Zoro proved it by standing up and slowly made his way to the edge of the bed. Sanji was amazed on how smooth the man walked without outstretching his arms in front of him. If Law didn't tell him he was blind, Sanji wouldn't have known. Zoro stopped before the bed and frowned, "Well...aren't you going to leave?"

"Oh yeah...come here Sanji. We need to talk." Law tapped Sanji on the shoulder, but since the cook didn't respond quickly, the doctor grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, Law was mumbling quick curses. When they entered the living room it was then Law burst from his calm exterior.

He shouted in a harsh whisper, "What the hell are you thinking?" Sanji felt bad for Law because he was blamed, even though he was innocent. Sanji was Sanji, but Zoro couldn't figure it out.

"I-I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself."

"Do you really think that excuse is going to work?" Law snapped, a vein popping on his forehead, "Why didn't you just leave like you said you would and go work at some restaurant in All Blue?"

Sanji gaped and seized a fistful of Law's clothes, "Why do you know that?"

"What...? You said you were a cook-"

"-but I never said anything about All Blue! Why the fuck do you know that?"

Law clicked his tongue. With two hands, he pressed a pressure point on Sanji's hand very hard so that it would release his shirt. Sanji was on the ground screaming a string of curses and rubbing the aching muscle. Law, staring down at the blond with satisfaction, mumbled in a low tone, "Zoro told me everything. He told me about your dream to make a restaurant with All Blue and how you wanted one to have one with a view of the ocean and the other some bar with a fish tank-"

"-an aquarium." Sanji corrected, wiping a tear from his eye. "He told you everything about me?"

"Well he is bored out of his mind and the only thing he could do is read Braille, sleep, and talk to me." Law frowned at Sanji, "Do you even have that dream restaurant?"

Sanji felt the criticism arrow jab him hard in the gut, "No, but it's because I had other things to do."

"Hm..." Law flicked his eyes to Sanji's left hand. While the other fingers were relatively the same size, the ring finger was marginally skinner, "Marriage problems?"

Sanji's frame subtly flinched. "...My husband died this year."

"Oh..." Law covered his mouth, and the biting sharpness dissipated, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

Law tried a different topic to deter from the dark mood, "So, um, are you going to leave or are you really going to be his nurse?" Sanji shrugged, "-because I really don't want to pay for two nurses."

"I-I'm fine. I'll just volunteer but..." Sanji looked back as if Rogue Town was just behind him, "I need to go back to Rogue by Monday. I have work."

"Where are you working at?"

"Baratie."

Law whistled, "That's a nice job you got there...hold on, you're seriously going to be Zoro's nurse? Baratie's far...it's in Rogue right? And...aren't you...uncomfortable?"

Sanji focused his attention on the floor. "I don't know. I'm really confused." He ran his hands through his hair, "I still won't forgive him, but I just can't leave like this. It just feels wrong. I'll stay here until Zoro finally realizes who I am. I know this is my own selfish wishes-"

"Yeah. You are one hell of a selfish bastard." Sanji glared at Law and the doctor returned an equal glare. Apparently, Law favored Zoro.

"-may I visit here over the weekend? I'll cook dinner too."

All of a sudden, the attitude Law had for Sanji reversed, "Really? That's awesome! Oh god, Zoro's all great and all except when it comes to food! He's picky as hell! He'll definitely love food made by a Baratie chef! Come here! I'll show you the kitchen!" This time, Law was polite enough to take Sanji by the hand and escort him to the kitchen.

The moment Sanji set a foot in the kitchen he took in the sight of the room. With his eye, he absorbed the personality and the traits of the kitchen and how it wanted to be treated. Law stood behind Sanji and made a skeptical stare.

"What are you doing?"

Sanji opened his eye and with it he sent him a message saying, 'thanks a lot for ruining my meditation.' "I'm reading the kitchen."

Law's eyebrows rose another centimeter, "You know what? I'm just going to pretend I never heard that okay?" The doctor pointed to the tall wooden door, "That's the refrigerator. I think I stocked up a few things this week so you should have plenty to work with. I have to go downtown to check up on someone. While I'm gone, can you babysit the guy upstairs?" Law grumbled along the lines of, 'I'm not waiting for that nurse' before returning back on topic, "Zoro doesn't like raw vegetables, clams, soggy vegetables, cauliflower, salad-but if you are serving it for health purposes _do not_ serve it with ranch or he will kill you, and meat has to be cooked medium, not medium rare-and there more things he doesn't like, but can you handle that?"

The list went through one side of Sanji's ear and safely into his head. He chuckled, "I'm used to it." He didn't know why he was suddenly so excited on hearing something new about Zoro, "Oh, do you think he'll like soup?"

"Eh, depends. What kind?"

"It's actually something I created."

"Oh really?"

"It's peppered trout stew."

"Ouch," Law looked as if he just got a paper cut on his finger, "Zoro hates peppered trout."

"Then I'll add only a few-"

"No no, don't even try. He won't eat it." Law threw his attention on his watch and clicked his tongue, "I need to go. I think he should be awake around three, so you can serve him dinner at that time. Just don't give him anything fishy today, got it?" He yelled out as he darted toward the front door.

"Got it." Sanji replied with his twisted fingered hands behind his back. Sanji rolled up his sleeves and took a peek in the refrigerator. Law wasn't kidding about restocking; the thing was filled! As he plucked out the ingredients he needed and began marinating the fish, he realized he had been humming the whole time. Sanji snarled under his breath to kill whatever tune he was singing. Law was right; he was a naïve idiot. Why was he cooking for someone he had hated for decades? Was it just because the man was blind and thought of him as someone else? Was it _really_ just that?

"Arg! Shut up!" Sanji pressed his hands against his head. It was only going to be a while and until Zoro finally stopped being a clueless dumbass. Then Sanji would ignore him for all he cared. Then why couldn't he just forget about this whole thing? My god, let Zoro think he was a different man and leave this shitty place. But somehow he couldn't. Why?

This was when Sanji unplugged the thinking cord, so his mind went into complete silence. Just cook, he told his brain, just cook.

As he cooked, he fell back to the past, slightly painful memories. It wasn't as painful as the night when Zoro raped him, but it was a slow gradual progress of pain.

It had been a year since he ever cooked for someone.

Lucci was always busy at work so he rarely came home. When he did though, his actions were a perfunctory routine: he ate dinner in silence, he took a bath, carried Sanji to their bedroom to have steamy sex, and the following day, he would kiss Sanji goodbye and leave for another mission. The last real cute romantic conversation they ever had was nine years ago, the day when Lucci finally proposed Sanji. Lucci never talked about his work since it was a secret, but he never told him how hard, tedious, or fun it was. Lucci called him three times a week but it was mainly technical. No matter how hard Sanji tried, the longest they ever talked was barely ten minutes. He seemed to never have the time to talk to Sanji. Other times, well often times, Sanji wondered if he was just there, only needed when Lucci wanted to have sex.

The saddest part was that Sanji never realized all of these things about Lucci until they married. Once he realized this, the shock overcame him like a hard punch in the face.

He thought Lucci changed, but it was _he_ who changed. He thought Lucci was the smartest, kindest, coolest, and the greatest boyfriend he had ever had. Nobody reached his level. Zoro was thought-from his friends-a great rival but Sanji did not even look toward his direction. Lucci didn't have the same money and fame as Zoro Roronoa, but there were many fantastic things about his dearest Lucci. Or Sanji thought.

Ten years of living in solitude. Sanji didn't worry about money because they had more than enough (they had money they received from suing Zoro). They lived in a peaceful town in a home Sanji dreamed of having. Sanji was able to work at a café, so he wasn't cooped up in his home as a househusband.

He didn't want to act selfish, but he couldn't help but wonder if those years were a waste.

-.-.-

It was around noon when Sanji carried a tray of hot soup to Zoro's room. He disobeyed Law's demands and made his special peppered trout stew but he did cut down the amount of trout by half. This might be a chance for Zoro to realize it was him. Surely the economically active man read the _Delicious! Gazette_ and about the famous soup created by the one and only Sanji Black. Sanji balanced the tray of food on one hand and poised his fist before the door.

Sanji tapped on the door twice, "It's me, Sanji." The cook cleared his throat and clicked the door open, "I made dinner." He opened the door and peered in to see where the patient was.

Zoro was where Sanji last saw him. He was sitting in his armchair but this time there was a big book spread open on his lap. Using two of his hands, he was deftly running his fingertips over the surface of the book and was mumbling some of the sentences. Somehow he looked entrancing-which Sanji obliterated the word out of his head.

The man stopped reading and raised his head to smile at Sanji, "Dinner? Alright, wait for a second..." Zoro reached over to a small table and slipped a bookmark between the thick pages before closing it. He stood up and froze for a second to calculate where he was, he pointed to the corner where a desk table rested, "Can you set the food there?"

Sanji gave a sound to let Zoro know he understood and walked to the desk. "Okay, I put it down."

"You don't need to keep telling me. I can still hear." Zoro frowned and this time he stared perfectly in Sanji's direction.

"...well, aren't you going to move?"

"If _you_ move."

Sanji backed a few steps and stopped just three feet away from the desk. "I did." Zoro closed his eyes to concentrate the source of Sanji's sound to make sure the distance of his voice did change. He shrugged-Sanji hoped Zoro was content on where he was at-and the man walked. Just like the last time Sanji saw him walk, Zoro smoothly avoided the small round table and two armchairs to get to the desk.

When Zoro pulled the chair and sat down before the dish, Sanji had to ask, "How do you walk like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know...without using your hands?"

Zoro made a deadpanned look before falling into chuckles, "It's like walking in the dark. You can basically picture where everything's at. It's not that hard." He put a hand above the plate of soup to feel the steam waft up in the palm of his hand, "It's hot...what is it?"

"It's stew."

"Hm..." Zoro leaned close to the plate and took a whiff, "What kind of stew?" By him asking this question, Sanji perceived that Zoro couldn't tell what it was. He was a little bit thankful for that because peppered trout did release a pungent odor if not treated properly.

"Just try it." Sanji said curtly as he touched Zoro's hand with the end of a spoon. The man frowned at Sanji, but did not retaliate. He took the spoon, handling it as if it were his own hands, and tentatively dipped it into the stew. He brought up a tiny amount and sniffed it once more before slipping it into his mouth.

Zoro stilled for a second as he held a hand over his mouth to suppress a gasp, "Whoa, what-? This is good! What is it?"

Sanji beamed, feeling proud all of a sudden, "It's peppered trout stew."

Sanji could not look away from Zoro's face because the sudden passive look vanished into pure surprise. The man stared up at Sanji with shock and Sanji was about to smile when-

"This has peppered trout? Wow, I would've never guessed." Zoro's smile disappeared to a slight frown, "Did you know I don't like peppered trout?"

The racing of his heart didn't stop. Sanji stuttered, "U-uh, yeah, Law told me."

The blind man sneered, "Well aren't you a rebel." Zoro swirled the spoon to scoop up another fill. He popped it into his mouth and kept it a bit longer to find a morsel of peppered trout. When he found it, he chewed it before swallowing. He made a little grunt, "I have to admit, I think this is going to be on my favorite food list."

The words swarm around him like annoying flies that would not leave. _Zoro didn't know. Zoro didn't know. Zoro didn't know. _The best proof Sanji offered had failed. What now? If speaking in his normal voice and convincing him he was the same person whom Zoro was in love with didn't work, what else?

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Oh, uh, I-I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Is your profession a cook? This tastes too good to just be a hobby."

Sanji piqued up, "Y-yeah, I meant yes, I did cook at a café a few towns down East. At the moment, I was hired at the Baratie."

"The Baratie?" Zoro awed, "Ah, that's a good place." _Well, Zoro knew the Baratie, then why doesn't he know the popular food magazine?_ "I've been there a few times. Their steaks are the best. Zeff will teach you a lot."

"Zeff?"

"Oh, he's the owner of the Baratie. Did you see a man with a braided beard?"

Sanji clearly saw the image of the man who officially hired him, "Yeah."

"The man can kick hard, but he will teach things that culinary classes won't." Zoro paused in his sentence and curled his lips in a frown, "But isn't the Baratie at Rogue? Did you come all the way from Rogue to become a nurse?" Zoro folded his arms across his chest and his eyebrows knitted, "That doesn't make any sense."

Sanji formed a smile. Finally the man was starting to fit the pieces together and realized that there were too many. He pulled up a chair and sat so he was face to face, "Well, it was actually a slip on words. I am really not a nurse. My main profession is a cook."

"Then why'd you lie?" Zoro's voice was low.

"I didn't lie. It was a slip on words."

"It's the same thing. What are you hiding from me Sanji-san?"

"About that," Sanji pointed out the word, "the name."

"You lied about your name too?" Zoro's voice rose, "Are you making fun of me because I can't see a damn thing?"

"No Zoro! Don't think like that please." Sanji hushed to control the man, "My name _is_ Sanji, and I swear I'm not lying!" He added the later since Zoro's glare was like a shark ready to take a bite his prey. When the death glare weakened by a slight, Sanji continued, "-but you should know me Zoro! I'm a cook, my name is Sanji-"

Zoro shook his head, "I really don't know you."

"Zoro! Stop acting like an idiot! You know who Sanji is!"

The green haired man let out a small breath of air and lowered his spoon. He hung his head in the most melancholy way, "I do know Sanji. He's the most beautiful person I have ever met." Sanji's frame shivered when he heard Zoro whisper in such a gentle yet dangerously sensual voice. "I loved how he slept in the library because he stayed up all night working on a new recipe, I loved how he preferred floral shampoo over men's, I loved how whenever he had something to think he would play with his bangs, I loved how he laughed, smiled, frowned too-I just couldn't get enough of him. I wanted him, but he loved someone else." Although his eyes were blocked by darkness, there was a painfully sad expression forming around it.

"I knew he loved someone, but I couldn't-." Zoro covered his hands over his useless eyes, "Why did I do such a thing?"

Sanji clenched and unclenched his fists. Oh how easily the hate volcano boiled. "Why the fuck did you do it? Let me tell you, you fucking rapist. You were a conceited freak and only thought about yourself! You raped me because you were pissed off that I refused your wedding proposal!" Sanji tried to even his breath so Zoro could hear what he wanted to say perfectly, "You know what Zoro? Ten years have passed but I still won't forget what you have done to me."

Zoro listened to Sanji in silence. When Sanji finally stopped to catch his breath, the patient brought up one short chuckle, "You impersonate Sanji so well...Do you think he would say that if he ever meets me?"

Zoro still didn't accept the fact he was Sanji?

How dull was he?

Sanji suppressed his snarl and whispered harshly, "I absolutely think so." Sanji didn't know he had stood up when he was yelling at Zoro, so he sat back down. His heart was pumping fast and adrenaline rushed through his veins. He felt better that he was finally able to spit out the words he wanted to say for so long, but his heart was still unhappy. He bore his eyes onto Zoro who stared absentmindedly at the bowl of soup. The man hadn't moved and after a minute, repent began to fall on Sanji like leaves.

The regretting moment passed when Zoro straightened up in his seat, "I'm finished."

Sanji took a moment to comprehend, "What?"

Zoro pointed to the bowl that still had two-thirds of the stew, "I'm finished with the soup."

"Y-you're done? But there's still more-"

"Oh no, I'm full Sanji-san. I really enjoyed it. Can you take the tray? I won't be eating it anymore." Zoro pushed himself away from the desk and walked over to the armchair by the window. He flipped open the book he was reading earlier, but he did not set his hands on the page. Not knowing what to do or say, Sanji just obeyed Zoro's orders. He timidly picked up the tray and hastily walked out of Zoro's room.

Regret piled up on his back like stones. He carried the tray to the dining room, and using a different spoon, he slurped the rest of it. He didn't know why the soup was hard to swallow.

-.-.-

Sanji didn't know he had slept until he woke up to the creaking of the door. He first freaked out because he couldn't recognize his surroundings but then he calmed down at the sight of Law walking casually up the stairs.

_Oh yeah, I'm at Law's clinic..._ Sanji's mind was still at a daze as he carried the dishes to the sink. He then wandered to the living room and sat in one of the couches. It was wonderfully comfortable and he was drifting back into sleep. His vision floated over to the grand piano and stared at the gigantic white teddy bear sitting on the piano stool. He was beginning to wonder why Law had a huge teddy bear when there was a loud consecutive stomping of stairs.

The loud stomping gradually grew louder and closer toward Sanji. When the blond peered over to the entrance of the living room, he saw the doctor. He looked like he was either at the verge of tears or ready to massacre Sanji.

"You!" Law raised a shaking finger at Sanji, "What did you tell Zoro?"

Sanji fully woke up and titled his head to the side, "Law? What are you talking about?"

"What the hell did you tell Zoro?" Law repeated, but he literally shouted this across the room. "He just told me just now he doesn't want to cure his blindness!"

Law's shouts and his persistent accusations provoked Sanji into anger, "I told him exactly what I felt! I got pissed since he couldn't tell who I was!" He saw the blood on Law's face disappear and he was deathly pale.

"You told him everything?" his voice was faint.

"Yeah, so what? I would've said it if he wasn't blind, mind as well tell him now!" When the last word slipped out of his mouth, Law darted to the room in blind fury. He rushed to the closest couch, grabbed a cushion in each hand, and threw them in Sanji's direction. Both hit him square in the head and the force sent Sanji to fall onto the side. It didn't hurt that bad since it was a cushion, but it brought a nice throb in the head.

"Ow! What? Stop Law!"

Law didn't stop. Without taking a break, he grabbed a cushion and chucked it at Sanji until the cook was covered in square silk cushions. He then ran to the grand piano, grabbed the gigantic teddy bear by the legs, and slammed Sanji with it repeated times. By now Sanji was pissed and when the teddy bear came crashing down with his all mighty fluffiness, Sanji seized it by its arms and held it down.

"What," Sanji shouted between pants, "are you doing!"

"You stupid, clueless, ungrateful, mean, rude asshole!" Law screamed. Sanji froze at the sight of Law bursting into tears, "Do you know how long it took me to persuade Zoro to see again? Do you?"

"No and why should I care?"

"Because you should!" Law yanked the teddy bear out of Sanji's hands and buried his face in his hands to stifle his sobs. Sanji turned away from the doctor and huffed in indignation.

"I hate you so much, do you know that?" Law mumbled through the fluffy teddy bear.

"What a coincidence because I hate you too."

Law pushed the heap of cushions to make room on the couch and sat down. He lifted his face out of the teddy bear's head and shot a glare, "Did you know without some kind of motivation, Zoro gave up on seeing?"

"Yeah, so what?" Sanji snapped again, "That still doesn't matter to me-"

"-and do you know what made him decide to see again?" Law was now facing Sanji, "He-"

_Three years ago, Zoro appeared at Law's clinic with dark sunglasses and a cane to lead him the way. He pulled a part of his hair back, revealing a tiny bald spot around a size of a coin. That was where surgeons cut open his skull to remove the blood clot that caused the massive headaches and finally the blindness. Law x-rayed his head to see if there were any remaining blood clots, but there wasn't any. _

_So he concluded that the reason why Zoro was blind because of stress. He told him to rest his body and it would eventually heal. But even after Zoro resigned from his busy job and lived in Syrup Village for a month, his eyes could not see. Law thought maybe the reason why Zoro couldn't see was because he didn't have a reason to. This was sadly true. As he read off the list of opportunites that would make a person want to see again, Zoro shook his head no.  
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_"...Law," Zoro leaned his weight on his arm as he stared at the window. The window was fully opened and a gentle breeze fluttered the white curtains. "...I think I have one dream..."_

_Law lifted his heavy head to look at the man, "Oh yeah?" He was exhausted and a massive headache was crashing onto him like rockets and bombs. In his hand dangled a large clipboard with a list of ideas he thought would convince Zoro to see again-and all were scratched off. Law held his throbbing head, "What's the dream Zoro?" Anticipation gripped his chest as he waited for Zoro to come up with the words, because he was not going to think anymore. _

_Zoro smiled, "If I can see again, the first thing I want to do is to find Sanji and apologize to him."_

"_Apologize?" Law straightened up in his seat, "I-Is that all? Not cruising to beautiful places, not seeing famous artwork or recent movies?"_

_Zoro shook his head, "After I...did that to Sanji, I never got a chance to apologize. He disappeared out of my sight after that. He dropped out of school and moved out of Rogue...and I never saw him since." He turned to Law and those eyes, those eyes that never saw light for five years glimmered with a sliver of hope, "I-I know it's been seven years but do you think Sanji will forgive me?"_

_Law hesitated. He wanted to cheer the man up, but he didn't want to bring his hopes up either. But if this was the only thing that would make Zoro want to see again, there was no other choice._

_The doctor mustered a cheerful voice, "He will, Zoro."_

Sanji stilled, froze in place.

Something in his chest burst into a million pieces. He knew at once that it was his stubborn antipathy. It had been bottled up for so long, it grew to attach and melt into his body. He had waited, wanting to hear those words. Once his heart was free from the chains, tears trickled softly down Sanji's cheek. He grabbed a cushion and covered his face with it.

Law scrutinized Sanji and snuggled up into his teddy bear. "He's doing this for you Sanji." Law peered, "Are you...going to forgive him?" He waited until Sanji responded.

The cook gave one nod.

Law sighed of relief, "Are you going to go up the stairs right now and apologize to Zoro for what you had said?"

The cook gave another nod.

"Then go do it."

Law watched as Sanji slowly rise and quietly made his way out of the living room. For a second, Law thought he was looking at a different person. The sharp agitation the man had when he first entered his home was gone. He thought he saw a faint glimpse of a smile on the cook's face but he wasn't too sure.

He quickly turned his attention to his stuffed animal. "I'm sorry Bepo for hitting you." Law squeezed his teddy bear. He gave it sweet hugs and kisses until he heard a soft knock at the door. He carefully placed the teddy bear back on its favorite seat near the piano and went to get the door.

A young man in his early twenties stood small at the entrance. He was a bit shorter than Law so the poor man looked quite inferior, especially in this situation. He fidgeted his fingers wildly as if he had an intolerable itch. He was trying to look anywhere but at Law.

"I'm sorry I arrived late. I read the time wrong..." Law glanced at the clock. It was perfectly eight o'clock in the evening. Law peered past the wall clock and to the staircase. He couldn't hear a sound in Zoro's room, but there was no sight of Sanji. This probably meant a good thing.

"E-Excuse me, Dr. Trafalgar..."

"Oh yeah, um this is kind of hard for me to say," Law scratched at his hair, "but you're fired."

**To Be Continued**


	4. Ch 3 Love is Blind

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. **

**The story is going to be a bit longer than I had planned. **

**This one was split into two because it was too long. **

**The second part will be uploaded next week. **

"Zoro!" Sanji threw the double doors open as he ran into the room. Upon the loud sound, Zoro almost leaped out of his seat, but he did drop the large book onto the floor. The patient was about to bend over to pick it up, but the cook rushed into Zoro's lap and exploded into tears. The book slid off somewhere to the side.

Zoro had his hands suspended, hovering over the cook's head, "S-Sanji-san...? W-what happened?"

"Zoro! I-I'm sorry for what I had said!" Sanji screamed through the patient's clothing so his apology was half muffled by cloth.

Finally Zoro's hand mustered courage to grab the cook's shoulders and pull him off. He tried to look toward Sanji's direction but he was off a few centimeters again, "I-It's okay Sanji-san, I probably deserve it-"

"No, Zoro! I-" Sanji wiped off the snot and tears off his face, "I heard everything from Law! You're doing this for me right?"

Zoro chuckled and patted the cook's hair, "You're mistaken Sanji-san. I'm healing my eyes so I could meet and apologize to Sanji."

Sanji blinked a few times because he didn't get the message. His brain was whirling with emotion, "Oh, _oh_ yeah, that's what I meant. A-Are you really going to apologize to _him_?"

"I want to." Zoro smiled a small smile.

Elation erupted in Sanji's heart. The hatred feelings he had for Zoro vanished like smoke. It sounded so simple and stupid, but that word, Sanji wanted to hear those words from him for the longest time. He thought of Zoro as a man who was stuck-up and would never apologize for the things he had done wrong. Tears were rolling down his face again and Sanji wiped them with his suit.

Sanji could hear glee in his voice, "So, um...what are you going to do when _I_, no uh, _he_ forgives you?"

"Forgive?" Zoro widened his eyes in surprise, and then he titled his head to the side, "I never thought of that before. I don't know...um, maybe...ask him how he is doing?"

"What else?"

The patient's eyes were wide as coins before he collapsed into chuckles, "What else? Sanji-san, are you trying to raise my hopes up? I highly doubt he's going to forgive me."

"B-But what if he did?" Sanji urged, because he knew that _Sanji_ was going to forgive him. Right now, he had no grudge over the man before him. Even so, there was a strong feeling burning inside Sanji's heart. It was a feeling he had experienced a long time ago.

"No no no, I won't think too much of it. Sanji probably has a busy life and he won't have time to meet me. Now, where did that book go?"

"I'll get it." Sanji put out a hand to stop Zoro. He knelt down and placed the book back onto Zoro's lap. As he stood up and watched Zoro skim through the page with his hands, he felt a little despondent. The patient was like a baby kitten; taking small steps to approach a cricket but then pounce back because it was afraid the cricket would kick him in the face. Zoro looked so happy whenever he mentioned Sanji Black, so much that his dead eyes reflected longing. When Sanji tried to persuade Zoro that Sanji Black might meet him again, however, Zoro would retreat.

"Hey Zoro."

"Hm?"

"You want to meet with Sanji right?"

"I do."

"B-but is that all? Don't you want to be friends with him again?"

The glitter in the patient's eyes was veiled by sadness. Zoro's eyes fell to the open book, "I want to, but I don't think Sanji will like it."

"Why...do you think that Zoro?"

"Because...Sanji-san, would you be comfortable with someone who has a history of hurting people?"

Sanji involuntarily stepped back a few steps, "I-I..."

Zoro smiled, but it was dismally gloomy, "See, you wouldn't like it either. I just want to apologize to Sanji and regardless if he forgives me or not, I will go away from him and...maybe return here and build my own home. I really like it here."

"But will you be happy?" His voice was shaking and Sanji felt something warm trailing down his cheeks. This time, the tears were not happy tears.

Zoro nodded, "I think Sanji will be stressed if I was near. If he's happy that I'm not around, then that's my happiness."

Sanji swallowed back his tears, "B-but what if Sanji was unhappy? What if he-he lost somebody special and wants somebody to comfort him? What if he failed creating his dream restaurant and was working somewhere else?"

"Sanji-san," Zoro interrupted, his voice was stern, "Don't make those assumptions."

"I-I," the cook choked, his voice failing him, "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright." Zoro suddenly reached over to touch the window glass to feel how it was, "It's night already? Time flies so fast these days...um, Sanji-san, I would like to sleep now, so will you excuse the room?"

"Y-Yes..." Sanji muttered, slowly moving toward the door.

"Oh, did Law give you a room to sleep tonight?"

"Er, no..."

"Law!" Zoro called out, "Can you give Sanji-san a room to sleep?"

It took a second for an answer to come back, "Got it!" The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs came much later.

Zoro smiled and Sanji's heart fluttered at the sight. "Good night Sanji-san."

"Good night..."

-.-.-

Sanji retired to bed early since, poor man, he had such a rough day. Law escorted the cook to one of the vacant rooms. It was as grand and spacious as the one Zoro had except for the lack of books. Before Sanji stripped off his coat, he fell dead on the bed and snored away. Law, grumbling during this whole time, peeled off Sanji's coat and socks, and tucked him into bed.

When he closed the door behind him, quickly with fast strides, he walked to Zoro's room. He tapped on the twice.

"Zoro, are you awake?"

"Law...? Yeah, I'm still awake."

"May I come in?"

"Sure."

Law expected to see Zoro lying on his bed, but the man was still sitting on the armchair.

"You should be in bed Zoro."

Zoro shifted his body, but his eyes stared far off into the sky, "I wanted to feel the wind a bit longer."

Law folded his arms across his chest and replied softly, "Liar. You were thinking of Sanji."

Zoro took his eyes away from the window and to Law. He laughed dryly, "You know me too well."

"I do unfortunately." Law pulled up the empty armchair and sat across from Zoro. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good."

"Liar."

Zoro frowned, "I'm not lying."

"Yes you are. I've known you for _two years_ Zoro. I know your personality."

The patient leaned over to hide his chuckles, "You're right...There is something that's bothering me."

Law glared at the room where Sanji slept, "Is it about the new nurse?"

"...yes...and no." Zoro leaned against the armchair again. There was a sudden pained look on his face. He shielded it with his hand, but Law saw it, "Sanji-san's a weird guy. One moment, he was yelling at me and the next minute he was crying his heart out. But, oh god Law, Sanji-san's just like him."

_That's because he is Sanji..._ "Ah...I-I see...Well, I never...met the guy, so I don't know." Law threaded his fingers together, "So does this mean you'll forgive him for what he said and continue therapy?"

Zoro sighed, "I don't think I want to anymore."

Law lunged out of his seat and slammed his hands on the small round table, "What?" He didn't bother to see the books toppling off the table, "Are you still bothered-"

"No, it's not that..." Zoro pressed a hand over his mouth. He always did this when he was thinking, "...but doesn't this mean..."

Law waited but the patient just stopped talking. "What?"

"...does this mean Sanji's dead?"

"Whoa! Now _you're_ jumping to conclusions Zoro!"

"But you know! There's a lot of tragic stories about a person losing their loved ones from a tragic event, and a few years later they meet someone who looks exactly like their deceased lover. It must come from somewhere."

Law's voice was rushed, "But that doesn't mean that it happens all of the time! Look!" He grabbed a couple of books from the bookshelves and dropped them onto Zoro's lap. One was about an eccentric family and the other one was about a swing covered in pretty flowers. He tapped his finger on the covers, "These have people who look like somebody else but they're not dead!"

Zoro ran his hands over the cover, "Oh yeah...there are some stories like that huh?"

"...and..."Law added, not really liking what he was going to say next, "A-and you know...Sanji doesn't like you, so he's not technically your 'lover'."

"...That's true. I completely forgot the key point." Zoro snickered but there was not a drop of humor.

Law kneeled down to collect the books off the floor. He also picked up the books on Zoro's lap before he sat down, "Are you really going to quit therapy because of that?"

"I'll continue if Sanji's alive-"

"He's alive."

"...well that was quick."

"Heh, I am certain of it." Law rubbed the edge of his nose in a pompous manner. It really didn't need many geniuses to figure that out. Sanji's sleeping right next door. "So don't give up Zoro. He's...out there somewhere."

Zoro leaned back against the seat. Those eyes were clear of all clouds. The man looked satisfied with Law's statement, "Alright. I'll continue it."

"Good." Law felt relieved. Now that problem was concluded, now it was the other step. The step that shouldn't have been a hassle. He suddenly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper which he scribbled up a list of obvious hints about Sanji, "Hey Zoro, are you tired?"

"No. Not yet. Why?"

"Well, I want to ask you some stuff about...you know, Sanji Rob..."

-.-.-

Sanji shuffled around in the most heavenly bed he had ever slept in. He cracked open his eyes and stared up at the creamy white ceiling with fancy embroidery imbedded along the edges. It had been years he slept like that alone. He was perfectly fine when he was sleeping with Lucci, but when his husband was gone, he tossed and turned and took nearly an hour before falling to sleep and wake up semi-satisfied. It was because of that heavy piece of lead in his heart was gone. Zoro wasn't a pride built man. He was going to apologize to him.

The tears welled up in his eye again, so Sanji dabbed it off with his sleeve, and there he saw that he slept in his best suit. Already there were faint wrinkles and creases.

"Damn."

There were two harsh knocks on the door. It were quick, rough knocks. The man on the other side was really cranky.

"Sanji? You awake?"

It was Law. "Yeah, I just woke up just now." The door swung open and Law came bursting into the room. When he reached the bed, he outstretched his arms and flopped. Then a weird, monotonic groaning noise emitted from the exhausted man.

"Law? What happened?"

Law let out another long groan, "I couldn't do it."

"C-Couldn't do what?"

Law raised his head and Sanji gasped at how dark the bags on Law's eyes were. "It's impossible. I stayed up the whole night yesterday to convince Zoro you were Sanji, but he-arg! He's totally blind!"

"Well, of course he's blind, he can't see."

"Not that blind, you fool!" Law snarled but suddenly lowered his voice, "Sorry, I'm just really tired."

Sanji patted Law on the head. He was surprised that his hair was soft. "It's okay."

The doctor rolled so he was on his back, "Have you heard of a phrase 'love is blind'?"

"Yeah."

"Well, apparently Zoro is both physically blind and love blind because," Law stressed the last word, "-because he sees you as a different person. He believes that because he knows _you_ hate him so _you_ will never come here. He's guessing that y_ou_ are probably married with someone wonderful, living somewhere that's far from Rogue, and working at the restaurant in All Blue." Law clenched a handful of the satin sheets, "But he keeps saying that you're like Sanji! He is so oblivious!

"But, he's going to continue therapy so I'm perfectly fine with that. It's just your problem." Law jabbed a finger at Sanji's chest, "Are you going to continue this volunteer work as _Sanji-san_ or _Sanji_?"

"Wait, I'm officially the nurse?"

"Yes."

"W-what happened to the nurse who was supposed to come at eight?" Sanji blabbered, wondering how the hell he remembered the last bit of information.

"I fired him."

"What? That was quick!"

"Yeah, so you're the new nurse now. Welcome to Law's Clinic." They gave each other a swift handshake, "Your job is to mainly babysit Zoro while I go around and check on other people. I can't watch him all the time you know. If he wants food, you cook. If you are running out of ingredients, just tell me and I'll go and buy it. Oh, and since you said you are going to volunteer I am not going to pay you.

"Anyways, where were we? Oh yeah, you. Sanji-san or Sanji? Whichever one you pick you're going to have a tough time."

Sanji racked his brain. Sanji-san or Sanji? The choices sounded so innocuous, both should be the relatively the same-since Sanji-san _and_ Sanji were the same person.

If he chose Sanji (or just be himself) he might have to start the same procedure Law attempted to convince Zoro he was-_him_. That idea leavened him; even though he only knew Zoro during his first year at the university, he knew how hard the man's head was. It would need a tremendous amount of persuading to get Zoro to understand. But the man was blinded by love, as Law referred earlier so that was even more difficult. He didn't want to end up as Law who was half-awake and half of his face buried in the sheets.

If he chose Sanji-san, he would be a different person in Zoro's view. He was just a young cook who just started stepping into the new world by entering the Baratie. He was also Zoro's nurse.

Sanji stopped pressing his temples and compared the two choices. One was obviously simpler than the other.

"What the hell are you talking about 'having a tough time?' Being _Sanji-san_ is the easiest."

Law raised his upper body by his elbows and stared at him incredulously, "You're serious?"

"Yeah."

"You're really going to be Sanji-san?"

Sanji crossed his arms, "Why not? I don't see anything bad about it. All it is that I pretend I'm _him_, even though _he's_ me right?"

"You are really dumb. Really really dumb." Law's frown sagged, "You need to look at yourself more often." After he said this, he slid off the bed like a caterpillar and sauntered back to the doorway, "I'm going to take a nap. Only wake me up when there's an emergency. Oh yeah, make some kind of breakfast for Zoro. And, don't you have to leave by tomorrow?"

Sanji gasped and leaped out of bed, "Shit, you're right!"

"You can leave at the fourteen o'clock train. It'll take you home before the next day."

"Thanks." Sanji hoped he sounded cheerful but it ended up sounding like he had something lodged in his throat.

"You're welcome dummy." The doctor tapped his mouth to make weird rhythms with his yawns and finally left the cook some privacy. Sanji glared down at the sheets. He needed to look at himself? What the heck did that mean? Sanji felt very displeased.

**To Be Continued**


	5. Ch 4 Forsaken Wedding

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. **

Over some weeks, Sanji began to adapt to his new life schedule. It was crazier than the peaceful marriage life, but it was hell of a lot more enjoyable.

Sanji loved working at the Baratie. Suddenly his life was bombarded with things to do. Although he first started as a dish washer, he worked arduously and didn't complain. He looked back and observed the chefs yelling out orders, kicking and punching each other when a person messed up, or getting yelled at all together by the old man with braids. Sanji hoped that he would join in the cooking battle sooner or later.

From Monday to Thursday, he stayed up some nights and perused the massive Baratie cooking book until he got all of them memorized. He originally loved reading cook books for fun, but these days he was doing it for two reasons. One, to step up to become an official cook at the Baratie and two, to recreate Baratie dishes for Zoro.

Yes, when Friday came around, Sanji hopped onto the late afternoon train and headed to Syrup Village and stayed there until Sunday. There he cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks in between for Zoro and Law.

However, for the first visits there was silence between them. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, but it was so peaceful that it made Sanji wanted to fall over and sleep. Law had told the cook that that was Zoro; it took a while for the patient to get to know other people. Sanji wasn't all too convinced with it because ten years ago, the man was friendly and was able to be friends with anybody.

It took three more visits until Zoro opened his mouth and began talking to Sanji.

He first talked about what general topics, such as where he was born to what was Sanji's favorite animal. The man had tons of questions to ask, which the blond strongly guessed that Zoro was used to it for the job interviews. By the time the cook answered 'spotted fox' as his answer for his 'what is your favorite animal?' he probably just answered to more than one hundred random questions. Sanji hoped that a few of these answers would trigger Zoro's mind but the patient did not falter. Sani had wondered why, until Zoro started reminiscing about Sanji Black.

When Zoro started speaking, he spoke in an upbeat bright tone. The things he said made Sanji want to hide under a rock. He told Sanji how they always got into a fight: it was either a verbal quarrel or a real fight requiring hands and legs. Zoro had tried inviting to Sanji to balls and feasts, but the blond always had an excuse and Zoro ended up going all by himself. When Zoro told him that he actually never ate Sanji Black's food before the words stabbed back at Sanji like knives. The blond was half glad that Zoro couldn't see how this conversation made his stomach spin. At the same time, he wanted Zoro to see so that he would know that Sanji Rob wasn't the Sanji a decade ago.

But Zoro told this story all with a strange happy note. It was as if he was pushing himself, forcing it to be a good memory, but in reality it was so painful it should be forgotten. Zoro's demeanor was consumed by this unnatural happiness. Just seeing Zoro smile warmly at Sanji made his heart twist in the most disgusting ways.

-.-.-

"Sorry I'm late!" Sanji pushed open the doors and walked with quick speed to shove a grocery bag into the refrigerator.

Law peeked from his desk and cast a glance at the wall clock, "Oh yeah you are, but it's okay. You're just a volunteer." He was sitting on a rolling chair so he rode on the chair like a skateboard to Sanji, "What did you buy?"

"Lobster."

"Sweet."

"Hey Law, I got to ask," Sanji pointed his thumb to the entrance. There was an extra pair of shoes, "Did you hire a new nurse?" Law had completely forgotten that Sanji could only volunteer on the weekends, so he felt somewhat (actually not at all) sorry for firing the nurse on the day Sanji came.

"Eh?" He glared at the shoes and then laughed, "No, I don't need to find any nurses anymore."

"Eh?" Now it was Sanji's turn to ask, "Why?"

"Zoro said he only needs one. He doesn't need another because you likes you quite a lot."

A faint blush appeared on his face and he tried to shake it away, "So who are those...boots belong to?"

Law blushed and tapped his finger on a notepad, "Um...Kidd." The doctor turned scarlet and scowled at the smiling Sanji, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Kidd's profession was an engineer. He created and invented many new innovations out of pieces of scrap metal. His work had been praised by many companies who asked to patent his creations. All were put down because the Wado Company asked first.

Kidd also happened to be Law's boyfriend. They had been going out for two years (after Sanji constantly nagged Law to hear their story) and they were hoping to get married soon. Sanji beamed and asked, knowing that Law loved to boast about how great his boyfriend was, "So, what invention did he bring today?"

"W-well, he told me he was making something for Zoro, well not specifically for Zoro, but for blind people."

"Hou, that'll be interesting."

"I know." Law said with a smile. "You should go and check it out. It's really neat." He sure was happy today.

"I'll do that but I'm going to make a drink for them first."

"Oh oh, make me one too."

"It'll have alcohol."

Law frowned, "I still want one."

"...Okay." Sanji answered in an ambiguous tone. He was going to not add it, just in case if Law ever got an emergency call. He prepared the drink in a heartbeat and delivered Law's glass before going up the stairs.

He stopped at the door to make final arrangements. He balanced the tray of drinks above his head as he adjusted his tie before a mirror. He brought the tray back to eye view and inspected the drinks. He flicked the mint leaf straight up and grinned in satisfaction. The first impression of a delicious meal was the appearance. Sadly, only one of the guests would be appreciating it.

He raised his hand to knock on the door when it opened and a tall man stood at the doorway.

Sanji, even though this was maybe the tenth time meeting him, always was surprised of the Kidd's style. The man had bright red hair that stood up on his head like a rooster. His eyes were sharp and menacing, so he always looked like he was mad all the time. He always wore clean clothes, but it had nothing to do with engineering. Leather jackets, spiked bracelets, and black nail polish deterred that fact. Sanji wondered if the residence in Syrup Village didn't wear clothes to match their occupation. Maybe he was acting a little bit ethnocentric.

"Hmph, you were right Mr. Roronoa. It's the cook."

"W-what?" Sanji stammered up at the taller man.

"Ah? Oh, Mr. Roronoa heard footsteps and he knew it was you."

Sanji heard Zoro's voice from inside, "I can tell people by how they walk. You walk a bit slower than Law's, Sanji-san."

"What about me?" Kidd asked absentmindedly, an attempt to keep up a conversation.

"You have this second delay with one of your feet...I think it's your left."

"Tch, you're scary."

"It happens when you only have four senses."

Kidd finally had his attention on the tray, "Hey, the kid brought drinks. I'll take that." He heedlessly snatched up the two tall glasses and set them on the table, "Here's the drink." Kidd held Zoro's hand and gently guided it to touch the cold surface. Sanji sulked at the doorway because the whole 'taking the drinks and giving it to Zoro' was supposed to be his job. "Hey kiddo, what the hell is this? This is really good!"

"It's E. Blue Breeze."

"What are you pissed off for?"

Zoro chuckled and took a sip from a straw, "Why don't you come in Sanji-san instead of just standing there." Sanji nodded and entered the room. The cook gawked at the messy table. Usually, the square table was placed near the wall, but apparently Kidd brought it over. The wooden surface was covered by the scattered paperwork and his inventions. Most of the papers had printed words on them, but some of them had Braille so that Kidd didn't need to read aloud. All of the paperwork consisted of the instructions on how to make the invention and how it was used. On the corner of the table-and almost toppling over-was (Sanji guessed) the blueprint.

"So where's the invention?"

"Here." Zoro pointed to the object on his lap. It looked like two sleek boards overlapping each other, but it was much more complex. On the front surface there was a keyboard with Braille letters instead of the alphabet printed on it. Zoro raised a hand and on cue, Kidd handed him a blank sheet of thick paper, "You slip the paper through here and-" after placing the paper between the board, he placed his hands on the flat keyboard and started typing in a surprisingly fast pace, "with this I can type really faster than the old method."

"See," Kidd dropped a large pin like object into Sanji's hands, "That's the old school way to write Braille. It takes a lot of time and it's fucking tedious. I think all of those books were done with this little baby. With my invention, if you know how to type on the computer, you can easily use this."

"This will definitely sell Kidd."

"Cool because I need it. I want my wedding to be as fancy as fuck." Suddenly Kidd slapped a hand over his mouth as if he was about to sneeze, "M-My bad Zoro."

"It's alright." Zoro sighed, the light atmosphere around the patient faded. Sanji exchanged his focus between Kidd and Zoro and he suddenly felt like he shouldn't belong here. "But Kidd, you shouldn't make it _too_ fancy, like that one I was planning."

A wedding. Ah, it brought back memories. On the night Zoro had proposed to him, he told Sanji what their wedding was going to be: he had bought a tiny piece of an island, asked Sanji's favorite band players to come to the wedding to play all of the cook's favorite songs, had already made plans to create a colossal amusement park with roller coasters, a Ferris Wheel, and a merry-go-round; showed him a blueprint of a fortress with a chapel built inside; and after all that, he booked a week trip on a gorgeous cruise to a trip across the world. If that wasn't fancy (and expensive as hell) what was? Sanji turned pale at the total amount of money Zoro would have used to create the crazy wedding.

"I was an idiot. I never knew how stupid I was until I turned blind...You know Kidd, I'm strangely thankful that I'm blind because now I'm able to see things that I couldn't see then." The red haired man didn't know what to say with that answer, so he just grunted, "So don't make it too fancy Kidd."

"Got it boss."

"You too Sanji-san."

"Eh? M-me?"

"Yeah...unless you're already married..."

"I did..."

"Ah," Zoro's voice lightened up, "So you're the only married one out of us. I envy you. So how is marriage life so far?"

Sanji suddenly felt uncomfortable telling him, "My...my husband passed away." It was a great way to spoil a wonderful conversation. Despite the wonderful sunlight bathing in the room, it felt awfully chilly.

After a few seconds of silence, Zoro looked up, "When?"

"Just this year."

"I-I'm very sorry to hear that. How are you faring?"

"I'm..." Sanji paused, "I'm doing alright." He hesitated on that answer because he was about to say it so smoothly. This frightened him. The whole month when Sanji lamented on Lucci's death, whenever someone asked him this question he immediately burst into tears. Was he getting over Lucci's death this soon?

Zoro laid his hands on the Braille keyboard, "How long have you been married for?"

"Um, almost ten years...but we've been going out for a while so...fourteen years."

Kidd looked like he just ate a sour grape and Zoro looked pained, "I...I don't know what to say..."

"I-it's okay." Sanji waved his hands, realized Zoro couldn't see this gesture, so he spoke in a reassuring voice, "I am still grieving his death, but I'm not depressed." No matter how bright he made his voice, he wasn't able to dissipate it.

Kidd saved the day and he spoke up in a loud voice that surprised everyone, "Hey Roronoa, when are _you_ going to marry huh?"

Sanji knew that the engineer was trying his best to change the topic on a happier note. However, the question suddenly caused the blood to rush down Sanji's face, making him horrifyingly blue.

"Me? Marry?" Zoro laughed and the bright mood returned, all except Sanji who was still as blue as death, "No, I'm not going to marry."

"You're not? Why the hell not?"

Zoro leaned against his seat, and raised one eyebrow, "Who would want to marry someone who's stigmatized as a rapist? On top of that I'm blind." Zoro chuckled, "Even I don't want to marry a blind rapist."

"...what about that prick who comes here all the time?" Kidd pointed out.

"Hey hey Kidd, don't call him that. He is my childhood friend."

"But he asked your hand in marriage seven times!"

"It's nine."

"Nine? I thought it was seven."

"No, it's nine. He's asking me more frequently these days. I think it's because of Maya."

"Maya? The princess in Asuka?" Kidd whistled, "She's a hot babe."

"I know, she turned into such a wonderful woman, but he wants me. Silly huh?"

"W-who?" Sanji cut in, embarrassed on how desperate his voice was. The two turned and Kidd looked surprised that Sanji was still here.

"Huh, you're curious kid?" Kidd asked in a smug manner.

"I-! I-I just wanted to-"

"Come on Kidd, don't tease him." Zoro frowned, "Sanji-san's probably has no interest in anyone for a long while. " The statement bothered Sanji. "His name's Saga. He's been my friend since we were kids." Zoro was now speaking to Kidd who knew Saga more, "I heard that he's having an arranged marriage with her soon, so that's why he's coming here every month."

"Every month?" Kidd and Sanji gasped out loud.

"Yeah, every month." Zoro laughed, "I keep saying no, but he won't hear it...but he reminds me so much of me when I tried asking Sanji out. Of course he won't rape me, my god," Zoro quickly added when he felt the air change around Kidd and Sanji, "He's too softhearted. He says he will only have sex with me if I marry _and_ fall in love with him. But who knows when that will be."

"-when you forget about _that_ guy." Kidd gave a straightforward advice.

It seemed it was Sanji's second time to turn into stone. Sanji and Law didn't tell Kidd about the _secret_ that Zoro's admirer was right under his nose. Law found that it was unnecessary. Kidd was smart when it came to engineering but the rest, his mind wasn't so keen. Kidd might pass out from thinking overuse. Right now, Sanji felt like he was going to pass out.

"A-Are you guys done with the drinks?" Sanji asked, relieved that he was able to make an excuse to leave.

"Oh yeah, wait hold on-" Kidd grabbed his glass, yanked off the straw, and drank down the remaining contents, "Here."

"Thanks for the drink." Zoro added while handing his own empty glass. Sanji quickly collected the drinks back on the tray and swiftly excused himself. The last thing he heard from the two was Kidd making fun of Sanji Black, while Zoro made a vain attempt to cover him.

Sanji fled down the stairs feeling miserable. It was a conversation Sanji was extremely curious to hear and now he wished he didn't. It always made his heart go a flutter when he listened to stories about happy couples or soon-to-be marrying couples, but his heart was crushing him. Why was it stinging his heart? Why did he suddenly feel like he absolutely hated the man named Saga? He didn't even know him!

Sanji stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "...I wonder who Saga really is...?" So he carefully dropped the glasses to the kitchen before sneaking into Law's clinic.

-.-.-

"You want to know more about Saga?" Law pulled down his glasses and glared at Sanji, "Why the hell are you asking me this question? Why don't you ask Zoro?"

"...Zoro's busy."

The bottom of Law's lip twitched, "...I'll tell you only the basics, but can I ask one thing?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Why?" There was something odd in the tone of his voice.

"B-Because I'm, like, the only person who doesn't know Saga."

"That's pretty true." Law looked amused with the answer, but at the same time he was disappointed that it wasn't the answer he wanted. The doctor titled his head up in a strangely supercilious way, "Are you asking because you're jealous?"

"W-Why should I be jealous?" Sanji snapped.

"You should be." Law closed one eye as if he was bored of the topic, "The guy's the main owner of the _Bakansu_ Cruise Corporation. You heard about that right?" Sanji nodded, guessing that it was maybe-_maybe_-the cruise ship Zoro had reserved for their honeymoon. "He has over a thousand companies, so he's obviously rich as fuck. He was voted number three in the _P.O.P Magazine_ for the handsome business owner in the world. So, he has wealth, fame, and power, all of which _you_ don't have."

"That doesn't matter with me," Sanji cut in sharply like knives, "but thanks for the info."

"Oh, did you know that he proposed Zoro nine times?"

"Yeah, persistent bastard." The blond spat as he reached over to grab Law's empty glass of the cocktail.

"That reminds me," Law flipped through a clipboard, "Saga scheduled a time to meet Zoro next week-whoa!" The doctor yelled when the glass slipped from Sanji's hands. It almost hit the ground if not for Sanji's quick reflexes. Law bent down to examine Sanji's features. He was panting because he almost broke a glass, but he also looked deathly pallor.

"Are you alright Sanji?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just slipped."

"Ah..." the doctor returned to his seat and pretended to be fully focused on his paperwork. He was actually waiting if Sanji was going to ask when Saga was going to visit. His assumption was wrong because he heard Sanji stand up and the footsteps began to lead toward the door.

The footsteps stopped, "Um...Law."

"Yeah?" Law tried to sound like he was oblivious to his question.

"W-When is Saga coming here?"

_Dead on right._ Law flipped the page, "Eh, don't worry. He's coming on a Thursday so you won't be there to see him."

"Oh, okay. That's cool." Sanji's voice did not sound cool at all.

There was a stomping of stairs and Kidd peered into the room, "Hey Law."

"Kidd!" Law beamed. He scooted his rolling chair across the room to meet his lover. He rose out of his seat and even stood on his tippy toes to kiss the bigger man, "How did it go?"

"Great. Roronoa really liked it."

"'Mr. Roronoa', Kidd."

"Oh yeah, right." The two paused in their loving moment when the blond mindlessly wandered out of the room. The way the blond walked made Kidd snicker in humor, but Law kept his mouth shut.

"The kid looks drunk. What the hell happened?"

"He's worse than a drunkard." Law frowned, "The guy needs to think."

**To Be Continued**


	6. Ch 5 Why Can't I Be Him

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. **

**A/N: Okay, I lied. There is going to be lemon, but it's not the rape scene. **

Sanji was back at the Baratie and he had stepped up to finally get his hands on knives and other amazing cooking utensils. The cook inwardly was thankful that everyone was kind to each other. His coworkers were eager to teach him new skills and get to know him more. Even the scariest looking chef (which now Sanji knew to address him as Chef Zeff) stopped his work to help Sanji.

Was he excited?

Yes!

Was he really excited?

...yes!

...Was he excited, but he was suddenly distracted by something so he couldn't bring up any enthusiasm?

...yes.

All this week, Sanji couldn't sleep. He was mainly excited that he was promoted from dishwashing to officially becoming a chef at the Baratie. However, the other reason for his insomnia was the fact that Thursday was approaching. Zoro's rich (and also handsome) childhood friend was going to visit on Thursday and probably (certainly) going to propose him, and Sanji wasn't there to see it. The cook wanted to see this man who wanted Zoro so badly. The tiny voice in his head wanted to abandon his work, fly to Syrup Village, and interrupt Saga's proposal.

He tried not to care.

He hadn't cared if Zoro married or not, had kids, or his life ending up in the dumps (the later was what Sanji wanted it to be), but that was ten years ago. Sanji wanted Zoro to be happy, but a selfish heart didn't want him to be with another man.

Zoro constantly told him that he wasn't going to marry anyone, but the fearful feeling in Sanji's heart would not subside. Zoro was free, single, and no one had him-and the cook preferred it that way. But he wanted Zoro to be happy. Ah, the ambiguity.

Thursday finally arrived and Sanji couldn't stop shaking. For the most part he was doing horrible. He couldn't believe he was screwing up on his first debut. If he wasn't warned by his upper coworkers he would have accidentally added salt instead of sugar. What a disgrace! Sanji just wanted to go and hide in one of the large frying pans. Because all he could think about were the mystery man, the proposal, and Zoro.

All he needed was a hard kick in the back by Zeff and he returned to the real world. Once he got his groove back, he was able to step back into the group. This was the time to show off his skills, so Sanji did just that. The cook deftly peeled the skins of potatoes and fishes as if he was just cutting a paper with scissors. He cleanly sliced off the fat and bone without removing any of the delicious meat. Some of his coworkers leaned over his shoulder to see the newcomer work. Zeff gave a snort at Sanji, pleased that the distracted the blond returned his focus.

Once he returned to his hotel, he was free of people looking at him so he fell into sorrowful silence. It was hard for him to carry food into his mouth, none of the local channels interested him, and the rest of the night, all he wanted to do was to lie dead in his bed and prayed that Friday would come flying. Under the covers, he curled into a tight ball, holding, soothing the pain in his chest.

His mind knew what it was, his heart literally wanted to jump out of his ribcage because it wanted Sanji to understand. Sanji had denied it because all he could ever love was Lucci. After the incident, it was buried by hate. Now Lucci was gone and Zoro's dream rusted the restrains. It was set free and the cook's heart was filled with it. Sanji squeezed his eyes shut because he feared that the tears were going to fall.

He was the most idiotic person ever been born in this world. Even the person who accidentally pressed the Buster Call button and destroyed a whole island looked smarter than him.

Since the first time they met, Sanji had fallen in love with Zoro.

It took him nearly a decade to figure it out.

The more he thought of how his life would've changed if he just accepted Zoro's proposal brought hot tears pouring, wetting his face and the sheets. Maybe the first few months might have been terrible, but the feeling in his heart would eventually change his perspective. It probably wouldn't have taken long for Sanji to forget Lucci and fall in love with him.

He never gave Zoro a chance.

That whole year in the Grand Line University, he had done nothing to please Zoro. He did everything to make Zoro eventually give up on him. Yet Zoro followed after him like any other baby animal and tried to make Sanji like him. Zoro attempted several times to invite Sanji to a party filled with VIP members so that the cook could observe the dinner that was served there, but Sanji refused because he wanted to return to his home town to spend his time with Lucci. Zoro visited his dormitory to see if Sanji had time to go out to dinner at an expensive restaurant or a winery, but Sanji mostly refused. He sometimes went when his roommates urged him to, but he acted like a complete asshole during the whole dinner. Zoro even told him repeated times, and even promised, that if they married he would help Sanji build his dream restaurant-not even that piqued his attention.

Sanji just couldn't see then. All he saw was Lucci. Then, he didn't care if it might have taken years to build his own restaurant. He didn't care if it would take more years to find a sponsor. If Lucci was with him, his life prospered.

How much Sanji wanted to kill himself for being so cold to Zoro. Zoro didn't deserve the degradation. He definitely didn't deserve the fucking blood clot that made Zoro's blind.

It was Sanji who should apologize to Zoro.

Sanji's face was hot with tears and he wiped them furiously across his face. He needed to redeem the ten years. Even though Zoro couldn't acknowledge him as the Sanji Black, he would do everything that Zoro might have wished Sanji Black would have done. Because that was all he could do to save his crying heart.

-.-.-

Time pitied on the cook and the day flew to Friday. Sanji headed to the train station with an unsteady emotion. He wondered if Zoro was still the stubborn headed Zoro and refused Saga's proposal or he finally gave up and said yes. If he thought the earlier, Sanji was able to breathe. If he thought the latter, the blond could not stay still and almost burst into pathetic tears. Whichever the answer, Sanji stayed in the train to see the results.

He fled to Law's Clinic as fast as a lightning bolt. Even Law looked surprised to see Sanji arrive so early.

"W-Whoa. You're early."

"I-I guess it's one of those days..."

"Hmmm...Whatever you say so."

"H-Hey Law."

"What?"

They both didn't realize they were still standing at the doorway and it seemed like they really didn't care, "D-Did Saga propose?"

Law formed a smug smile, "He sure did."

The rest was hard to come out of his mouth, "A-And..."

The doctor patted the cook on the shoulder, "The results were the same. Zoro said no."

Sanji sighed out a relief. The noisy racket in his nerves suddenly stopped dead. His mind and heart was in peace. Law blinked in surprise and then a sly smile appeared on his features. He meant it to be a sarcastic remark but Sanji fell into it. The last times he tried Sanji returned with a provoked anger.

"It's about time."

"H-Huh?"

Law poked his own chest, "You finally listened to yourself." Sanji blushed and he hung his head down. Law chuckled, "So, now you realize the difficulty becoming 'Sanji-san'?"

The blond frowned, "No...I still don't get that."

The smile on Law's face immediately disappeared, "Well, you're still a dummy."

"C-Can you stop calling me that?" Sanji snapped.

"Never. Oh yeah, I got to introduce you to someone."

"W-what?" Sanji stammered, "I thought you said you won't hire nurses."

"I didn't." Law turned behind for a second, "Hey, can you come here for a sec?"

A male voice called out from a part of the room, and by Sanji's calculations, it was the kitchen. Seconds later, a man walked down the hallway to where the doctor and cook were. At the sight of the man, Sanji's breath was taken away. The man was handsome. His hair was a vibrant shade of purple and as the light danced over it also glimmered in a faint violet. He had very kind looking eyes and a friendly physique that even Sanji, who had a strong prejudice, wanted to be nice to him. On his nice well-built body, he wore the most expensive brand named suit. Law didn't need to state his name because Sanji immediately knew this was Saga.

The doctor introduced anyways. "Sanji, this is Saga. Saga, this is Sanji Rob." Law stressed the last name as loud as he could. The doctor was keeping control on who should know the true Sanji and not. Saga was a no apparently.

"Nice to meet you." The man reached out a hand. Saga had a subtle accent that was quite familiar to Zoro's. Sanji didn't know why that envied him. "You're the volunteer nurse?"

"Yes."

"And you cook also?"

"Yes."

"Well," Saga grinned, "You don't need to do that job. I'll be living here for a while so I'll do the cooking."

"W-wait what!"

"You heard me." Saga beamed, thinking that Sanji shouted in joy that his work was cut down by half, "I can cook. You must have been stressed on how picky Zoro's food habits are. He loves most of his homeland dishes so that wouldn't be a problem anymore."

"No." Sanji started but he calmed himself down so he sounded friendlier, "Thank you for your generosity, but I mainly come here to cook for Zoro."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. And may I ask why you are staying here? I heard that your proposal was denied."

"Ahaha, that," Saga pointed out, "I decided to stay here until Zoro makes up his mind." Sanji's skin color turned white as a sheet of paper, "You know how he became blind right? Next year he's going to be thirty and he can't be all stubborn about it. But he just...he just can't forget about his crush."

"-but I called Maya earlier so she should be coming here in a few days."

"Law!" Saga shot a glare at the doctor, "I told you not to give her my whereabouts!"

Law made a hand gesture meaning cash, "I needed to see the money."

"You never said that!"

"Always read the fine print."

"You never gave me any documents!"

Saga grumbled to himself, mainly counting down the days until his soon-to-be fiancé came to pick him up. He was interrupted by the chirping of a toy bird in the wall clock. "Ah, it's lunchtime." He suddenly removed his coat, "I better make lunch for Zoro."

"Uh-uh, no you aren't." Sanji pulled his tie, "That's my job!"

"You're just a nurse!"

"My main occupation is a chef!"

"Oh yeah? Where do you work?"

"The Baratie!"

"Hah," Saga snorted, "Zoro doesn't like North Blueian food!"

"He ate everything I made and all were North Blueian!" The two were shooting quick retorts after another. It seemed like it would never end until they both turned to Law.

"I should be the one to cook right?"

"Law, you're on my side so you better say yes!"

Law stepped back a few steps, staring at the idiots as if they were idiots. "Um...I'll go and check on Zoro." The doctor escaped and ran up the stairs as fast as he could.

"Hey! Don't run!"

"Why don't you guys ask Zoro?" Law called them up. They only took a second to follow after the doctor.

When Sanji entered the room, it felt different. The air was crisp and cold, even though the coolers weren't on. All of the windows were closed and covered with curtains so it was quite dark. Around the four corners of the room there were four pots with a dim candle flickering inside. Sanji didn't catch any scent in the air at all, but once Law closed the door the cook suddenly felt at ease. Every muscle in his joints relaxed and his body was as if he was sleeping while standing. Saga's eyes looked heavy and he blinked several times to clear his sudden drowsiness.

"Incense, if you were wondering."

"It doesn't smell like anything."

"It's not supposed to." Law nodded, "It eliminates all odor so all five senses can take a break. Hey dummies, Zoro's over here." Sanji flushed in embarrassment that he was doing the same thing as Saga. They both thought Zoro was at his usual seat. By glancing at Law who was pointing at the bed, they were wrong.

Zoro was lying supine on the bed. He looked like he was sleeping. Probably that was all he could do since his eyes were covered by thick white bandages. While Law pulled out a pair of scissors, he addressed to Saga and Sanji, "Can you guys blow out the candles and gather the incenses to the table over there?" The two obliged and went in opposite directions to get the incenses. Once they had collected all four of the incenses and put them on the round table, they returned to stand alongside the bed.

Law snipped the bandages and slowly unwound it off Zoro's face. As the bandages fell lifelessly on the bed, bits and pieces of dried leaves fluttered down also. Sanji assumed it was another kind of medical healing leaves. Zoro was sitting up and waited patiently for Law to finish.

When the bandages were gone and Zoro was able to open his eyes, Law flicked on a match.

"Zoro can you see this?"

Law brought the match close to Zoro's face but not so that he wouldn't guess by the heat or fumes. Zoro stared at the flame intently, but then he shook his head.

"No not a thing."

Law waved the match to kill the flame. He sighed, "I guess it'll take a while...I'll go open the windows." The doctor cast a glance at the two men, "Are you guys going to ask something?"

Zoro blinked, "Who's in the room?"

"Sanji and Saga."

"Ah Sanji-san, welcome back." Zoro smiled and Sanji saw it clearly even in the dim darkness, "How are you doing?"

"Good as always Zoro." Sanji grinned back, hoping that his voice sounded happy. Just looking at Zoro's smiles made Sanji want to burst into tears. Zoro would've had a better life than this.

"So what do you want to ask me?"

"Oh that-"

"_Zoro_!" Saga interrupted, shouting in a different language, "_This kid won't let me cook for you!"_

"He said he was going to steal my job!"

"_I'm helping, but he doesn't accept my kindness!"_

"_English Saga_..." Zoro calmed the distressed man down before returning to the universal tongue, "So...what exactly are you guys trying to say?"

Saga cleared his throat, "For today's lunch, do you want to eat my food-"

"-or mine?" Sanji finished.

The two glared at each other for a brief moment before turning their heads back to Zoro. The man looked just as confused as Law.

Zoro scratched at his hair, "Um...I-I think I'm going to treat you guys."

"Really?" Law leaped into the conversation and the only person in the group who was excited for it, "'The Meshi' right?"

"Yeah, that place."

"C-Can I invite Kidd over too?"

"Sure thing."

"Yeay! I'll go and get your sunglasses okay Zoro?" Law raised his hands and whooped before dashing down the stairs to get his hands on the Den-Den Mushi. Saga and Sanji felt they were ripped off, but seeing the doctor and patient smiling in excitement eventually ebbed away their sadness. Zoro slipped out of bed and tapped his hand on a chair. On it was a clean set of clothes, all set and ready for Zoro to change.

The man was a brute and didn't really care if he stripped in front of his fellow friends. Zoro thought Saga was fine since they had played in streams or lakes naked before (they were still kids then). Sanji, well, Zoro assumed Sanji still couldn't get over his husband like any other widow so looking at another man wasn't too big of a deal.

Zoro was obviously wrong.

The moment when his hand reached his top button and began popping them off, the two froze in their place. Their eyes glued to the bare chest slowly peeking out from underneath the shirt. Every drop of blood in their body swerved out of control and crashed down, down, down to somewhere it was beginning to feel tight and uncomfortable.

Sanji's face brightened because he never knew these feelings aroused to him. Saga looked like he had swooned standing up; a trickle of blood was trailing down his nose.

The healthy bronze chest was still there but with a spice of age. Every muscle was toned and still perfect. Just ogling at him was like Sanji just experienced mind blowing sex. His body was in fire and he was literally panting and sweating. Sanji didn't have this craving for almost a month, but the last time Zoro ever had this was maybe ten years ago. This heavenly body was cherished for only one man. That man was Sanji, but the cook couldn't reach out his hand.

Zoro slipped the rest of his article of clothing until he was only in his gray boxers. He brushed his fingers gently over the surface of the fabric to feel what it was. Acknowledging the clothes, he slipped them on quite fast and smoothly. He was in a loose collared t-shirt with a dark green sweater vest on top. He tucked the hem of the t-shirt in his dark gray slacks. For the black socks, he sat down on the chair to slip them on easier. When he was finished, he stood up and spread his arms as if he was presenting himself.

"How do I look?"

"_W-Wonderful..."_ Saga whispered, wiping the blood with a silk handkerchief.

"English Saga, and thanks for the compliment." Zoro brushed his hand on the chair's backrest. "So are we ready to go?"

"I-," Sanji started and blushed, "I need to go to the restroom first."

Zoro chuckled, completely oblivious of the undertone in Sanji's voice, "We'll wait for you downstairs." Sanji nodded feebly and rushed to the closest bathroom in the hallway. He chose the bathroom in his room because he was the only one using it (every room in this clinic had one bathroom). He closed and flipped on the lock. It snapped with a sharp quick click.

Right in front of him, a gigantic mirror sat on the sink. He saw his upper half of his body easily. He turned away from it and focused his attention on something much more urgent. Quickly, his shaking hands fumbled to unzip his pants, so he could wrap his hands around his throbbing member. He let out a harsh gasp when cold touched hot. With haste thrusts, he pumped his hard length as fast as he could. It didn't take long for him to fly into his climax.

Sanji squeezed his eyes shut when he came. He bit his bottom lip hard to muffle a moan. His frame shook violently as his length dribbled out the rest of its seed. His hands, boxers, and parts of his pants were drenched in cum. Panting, he glanced up at himself in the mirror.

There stood Sanji Rob. His face was bright red and covered in sweat. The blond hair was slightly wet, sticking to the sides of his nose and cheek. His mouth hung open like a loose door and was panting in short breaths. The mouth slowly formed into a sloppy grin, but then it crumbled into a loud sob.

He covered his mouth with his sleeve to suppress another. He sank to his knees and squeezed his eyes, but this time it was to stop the tears from falling. His hands wanted to embrace Zoro. He wanted his voice to reassure him that he was never going to leave him. He longed to touch his lips against Zoro's but most of all, his body craved for Zoro.

Why did he neglect this feeling then? He remembered he had these feelings when he saw Zoro, but he never acknowledged them. That was a lie; he did understand but he covered it with a pessimistic thought: he had assumed Zoro was sexy because he was surrounded with the presence of money. Could he get much stupider than this?

A faint knock interrupted his thoughts. "Sanji? You there?"

Sanji scrambled to the sink and turned on the hot water, "Y-Yeah?"

"Zoro told me you were here."

"Uh, yeah, oh okay. C-Can you guys wait a few minutes? I'm going to...uh change."

"Why? Zoro can't see."

"He can't, but everyone else can."

"True. Okay, we'll wait for you." When the footsteps fainted away, the cook slumped back down onto the tile floor. He prayed that Law didn't come in at the wrong time and heard everything.

Law stepped away from Sanji's bathroom and walked further until he finally was out of Sanji's room. He leaned his back against the wall of the hallway and sighed. The doctor heard everything; from the point where he heard Sanji muffled out a moan that maybe his boyfriend would love to hear. He also heard the sobs soon after. Law turned to look back at the door, as if he could see past it.

"...I'll be rooting for you Sanji..." Law muttered before descending the stairs.

It took ten minutes for Sanji to clean his hands, dunk his dirtied pants and underwear in the laundry basket, and to find and change into a clean set of jeans. When he rushed down the stairs, all three were waiting at the entrance. Sanji swallowed when he saw the sunglasses over Zoro's eyes. It wasn't the bulky square looking sunglasses. It was sleek, sexy, and it was one of those popular brands that even the cheapest cost around fifty thousand Beli. It looked too good on the man. The cook felt another heat rising down to his pants.

"Law, can you hand me the cane?"

Law's voice was strangely hesitant, "You want it? I-I could just guide you there..."

Zoro chuckled, but his hand was still outstretched, "No you're not. All of your attention's going to be all to Kidd."

"I won't do that!"

"Cane Law." Law made a weird sound in the back of his throat. There was a look on the doctor's face that Sanji couldn't read. It looked like anger but it had a pinch of remorse. Then those eyes, it was only for a second, but it flashed toward Sanji's direction. Anxiety crept up Sanji's back like thousands of tiny spiders.

"...Okay." Law took a quick trip away from the front door. It didn't take a minute for the doctor to return, but the doctor cast the same look back onto Sanji before handing the cane into Zoro's hands.

Sanji caught the shining gleam of the cane and he awed, "Wow, that is one nice cane-" and then his laudation abruptly stopped.

The cane was made out of a dark piece of wood. It was polished finely like varnish on a violin. Perched on the grip sat a silver dragon head. Its mouth was open and its fangs protruding out, showing intimidation and power. The long slender whiskers on the dragon's snout waved fluidly around its face. The scales were shimmering like round pebbles in a crystal clear river. Finally the two orbs of the dragon's shone like diamonds because the glittering orbs were made out of a rare diamond called the Jozu Diamond. The jewel, when light shone over it, cast an iridescent hue of blue.

The cook stopped in mid sentence not because the cane was breathtaking. He froze because of the materials to create the head of the dragon. The silver and especially the eyes of the dragon were so horrifyingly familiar that it chilled Sanji to the bone. Now he understood clearly why Law made that look.

"Ah this?" Zoro heard Sanji's compliment and his fingers brushed over the dragon's face, gently running it over the eyes of the silver beast, "Looks cool huh? But these used to be engagement rings I made for..." Zoro's voice fainted and he covered it up with a weak laugh, "Pathetic isn't it?"

"Pathetic? Oh ho ho, you don't know how much I want to sock him in the face!" Saga snorted with much resentment forced into it. "The man's a snobby bitch! He was clearly using you Zoro!"

"Hey!" Zoro thrust out his hand and he accurately grabbed Saga's shirt with one swift move. He yanked Saga toward him and they each gave a rough knock on the forehead, "Sanji is not like that!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me the time when he was kind to you! Tell me the time when he said 'Thank you' when you did something for him! Tell me Zoro because I heard nothing!"

"He wasn't-!" Here Zoro paused, "He wasn't kind to me but he was generous to everybody else. You don't know how he felt when someone constantly nagged to ask him out! You've hated it too!"

"Zoro, you dull numskull! Sanji-!" Here, Saga cut a glance at Sanji whose face suddenly lost all color during this quarrel. His voice suddenly died, "No no, Sanji. We're not talking about you...it's somebody else." The blond merely nodded, his face turning all the while bluer. Law was turning blue in the face also, so he quickly sidled to the blind patient and patted his chest.

"Zoro, calm down. We don't want a moody lunch right?" While Law tapped the patient on the shoulder, he turned to Saga, "Apologize you two." The two friends stared down at the ground, but tentatively lifted their heads to exchange an apology. There was a light tap on the door and by the large silhouette on the other side everyone knew it was the engineer.

Law was exceptionally happy, "Kidd! Oh my god, what good timing!" Law gestured Sanji, "Sanji, can you guide Zoro?"

"Can I?" Saga asked, his hand poised near Zoro's arm.

Law pulled up a smile that was a mix between sly and evil, "No, you don't need to. It's the nurse's job."

Zoro gave one swift nod to Sanji. He raised an arm as if he was a father ready to guide his daughter down the aisle, "Will you?"

Sanji blushed and nodded, "Y-Yes. I will." When he cupped his hands tentatively on Zoro's arms, he could feel the muscle rippling underneath the long-sleeved shirt. His eye somehow glided down to the other arm which held the cane. Ten years ago, if he was able to comfortably hold Zoro's arm like this, had the Jozu engagement ring on his finger, and walked down the aisle in a crisp white wedding attire, Zoro would have been so happy. The edges of his eye began to burn so he raised his head to prevent it from falling.

-.-.-

The Meshi Restaurant was a small family restaurant in Syrup Village. It reminded Sanji of the café he used to work. There was a friendly and also a warm atmosphere. When they entered, everyone in the restaurant, upon the sight of Zoro, all brought up a kind smile and greeted the blind man. Some even stood up from their seat to give Zoro their spot. Law, Sanji, Saga thanked the generous man while Zoro took a seat. Kidd grunted in gratitude and pulled up a seat so Law could sit down. Sanji snatched a seat next to Zoro, and Saga took the seat on the opposite side.

Zoro dropped the menu on the table and he beamed, "Ask whatever you want. I'll do all the paying."

"Oh oh!" Law was grinning from ear to ear as he skimmed through the list of foods. He immediately raised his hand for the waiter. There were a total of three waiters, two of them were relatively close to their table, yet a man appeared from the kitchen. The man wore an orange knitted cap on his head with his bushy magenta hair poking out from the edges. He had the longest notepad Sanji had ever seen a waiter hold. When he stood next to Law, the waiter wetted the tip of the pen with his tongue and set it on the surface of the blank paper; a runner waiting for the sound of the pistol, "Okay, today I want a BLT sandwich; this tomato soup with chicken; crunchy shelled taco; fish taco; hamburger with extra cheese; the seven piece fried chicken; blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and chocolate chips please; soba noodles so I think I need chopsticks, cheeseburger without the cheese but with extra pickles; a hotdog with onions, mustard, relish, a dollop of ketchup; tea; and chocolate cake but no frosting. Thanks."

The man knew no limits.

To Sanji's astonishment, this act was normal because the waiter stared at Law, waiting for him to continue.

Then Zoro asked in surprise, "What happened Law? You didn't say much."

Law scratched at his head sheepishly, "I'm going on a diet."

Zoro reached over to touch Law's whole arm, "No way. You're not fat."

"Yes way. I checked a few days ago and I gained two kilos."

"Two kilos is harsh." Kidd frowned.

"Hey Mr. Eustass don't put down your boyfriend." The waiter frowned.

"Shut it waiter." Kidd growled under his breath and then turned to Law and mumbled a small 'sorry.' Law forgave him and they each gave a chaste peck.

The waiter smiled, "What would you like Mr. Eustass?"

"Black coffee with French toast. Extra maple syrup please."

Saga raised his hand while pointing to the list in the menu, "I would like to have roast chicken with the 1700 S. Blue wine."

The waiter scribbled it with brief slowness and then he tapped a hand on Zoro's arm, "Will it be the usual, Mr. Roronoa?"

"Yes please."

Law peered into the menu Sanji was holding, "What are you going to eat? You should get that one!" Law pointed to the most expensive dish listed on the menu. It contained aged beef, caviar, organic vegetables, and sauce imported from N. Blue. Sanji almost went into a swoon at the price.

The blond slapped Law and he glared at the menu. "Uh..."

"Ah, excuse me," Zoro raised his hand to signal the waiter's attention. Then he pointed to Sanji, "Could you give him a taste of all of the dishes on the menu? I'll pay extra."

"Z-Zoro-!" Sanji gasped, appalled at his statement, "N-No, that's-" The menu contained roughly a hundred different types of foods, thirty desserts, and twenty beverages. All of the prices were in the two-digits.

Zoro smiled up to the waiter and continued on speaking, ignoring Sanji the whole way, "He's a cook, so I think he should try many dishes."

"That's a wonderful idea Mr. Roronoa. I'll ask the chef if he can do this." He left to the kitchen to ask about Zoro's request. In total, the man used a full page of the thirty centimeter notepad.

Sanji grabbed Zoro's arm and shook him, "Zoro!"

Zoro laughed, "What? You aren't hungry?"

"N-No, that's not the point-"

"Mr. Roronoa?" Sanji literally jumped out from his seat because the waiter returned so fast and silent, "He is able to do it."

"Good, and can you also tell him to make the dishes bite sized?"

"Of course."

"Wait-" Sanji opened his mouth to speak, but Law rammed his elbow into his ribs. The air was knocked out from his lungs and he made a weird choking sound. He glared at Law, but the doctor grabbed the blond's ear and yanked him close to his face.

"Shut it, and accept it Sanji!" Law hissed, "Zoro's mood is really good right now, so don't ruin it asshole!" Sanji peered over at the blind patient and Law was right. There was a bright, flamboyant aura surrounding the cheerful man. Sanji had to admit, the last time he had ever seen Zoro like this was during the Grand Line University. It was when Zoro willingly wanted to help Sanji out with whatever he was doing. Sometimes it was homework, but most of the time it was culinary related. The blond usually kicked away the offer because he knew that Zoro just wanted to ask him out to dinner. But when Sanji agreed to the offer, Zoro always produced such a euphoric smile that the blond didn't feel all too miserable.

Sanji shrunk into his seat and mumbled shyly, "T-thank you Zoro."

Zoro's grin was like a warm sunshine, "Not a problem."

-.-.-

The quiet chatter of the table immediately exploded with sounds of eating when the food reached their table. Waiters pushed three tables together so that it would contain all of Law's foods. For Sanji's case, his came in a little tray with an assortment of dishes, and when he finished everything in the plate, the waiters took it away and replaced with another.

Zoro had a plate of onion soup and a small basket of bread. The patient stopped eating from time to time to listen to Sanji's comments. He sometimes chuckled when Sanji exclaimed in surprise and demanded for a recipe, or the chef. After finishing the last dish, Sanji's stomach was content.

Strangely enough, Law finished a few minutes faster than anyone. When the dishes were stacked and carried away and a young waiter brought the check, Sanji decided to shut his eyes to not see the price. The attempt backfired because the waiter whispered the price in Zoro's ear for he could not see the check in the first place. The blond was close so he heard every number. Four digits-and Zoro was planning to pay extra.

Sanji went white and cold as bone. He never paid before when he and Lucci went on a date, so he felt bad whenever Lucci paid. Sanji had always picked the dishes Lucci ordered, and most of the time it was something he didn't want. Needles pricked at his stomach. He felt like a gold digger.

Saga peered over the receipt and made a slight nod, "Hmm...Zoro, do you want to split it up?"

But at the sight of Zoro smiling with a proud expression, Sanji blushed. "Nah, I'll be fine." The blind man flipped out his wallet, a dark black leather one, and flicked out a card.

"I'll pay with this."

The young waiter set the card on the black tray, "I have accepted it. Oh, uh-"

"Eh, the tip? Just withdraw as much you think is appropriate."

The waiter gawked at the man and then at the card. Sanji couldn't blame him. He would have made that same expression. Saga, Law, and Kidd snickered, amused at the young waiter's largely opened mouth.

Suddenly, the familiar waiter who wrote Law's request came to the shocked waiter's rescue. "Sorry Mr. Roronoa, he's new at this." He took the tray from the other's hands, "I'll take that. You go and take the rest of the dishes."

"Ninjin, I almost forgot," Zoro called back the waiter, "Can you put in an extra three hundred? That's for the extra." The man nodded calmly while the other was fanning himself from the superfluous amount of money bombarding into the restaurant. When the two waiters left, Zoro leaned his hand on the table. The shielded eyes peered up to Sanji and he smiled, "Did you like the meal?"

Sanji's face felt hot. He dropped his head to avert Zoro, "I-It was good. T-Thank you for taking me here..."

The man snickered, and the tickling feeling rose in Sanji's heart, "You're welcome."

Sanji peered up and his eye met with Saga's. Something reflected in the man's eyes that were unreadable. The cook stared back, trying to decipher the meaning. He didn't look mad; there was not a trace of jealousy. He didn't look exactly happy either. The closest thing Sanji could think of was acceptance. But acceptance of what?

The waiter returned with the card and Zoro signaled everyone to get ready to leave. They gathered their coats, and thanking the chef, they left the Meshi. Law stretched out his arms up in the air and breathed in the cool air. Then he rushed up to Kidd and begged to carry him bridal style because he was too full to walk. The other man smacked him lightly on the head, and continued on walking holding Law's hand. The group was leisurely walking on home, when Saga tapped Sanji on the arm and gestured him to walk with him. The cook blinked and shrugged, pointing his arm hooked around Zoro's arm.

Zoro noticed the nonverbal conversation and he chuckled, "It's alright Sanji-san. I could walk on my own. You go and talk to Saga." Sanji was surprised that the blind man found out but also disappointed because he had to let go. Sanji wrapped the scarf around his neck and delaying his walk, he walked along with the purple haired man.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Rob, was it?"

"No-yes. Yes that's me."

Saga cast a glance at Zoro before he continued, "Zoro...Zoro used to be an energetic guy, running here and there, doing tons of stuff. He doesn't look like it now because of what happened ten years ago. The smog of Rogue infected him. He shouldn't have stayed there so long. He lived in the countryside throughout his whole life, so it's obvious that his body wasn't used to it.

"But when...when you were near and you two talked, he was himself again. I've...I've never seen him smile like that in a long time..."Saga's eyes were still on Zoro's back, "I'm probably going to marry in a month or so, so I won't be around to help Zoro as much as I used to. I-If that happens, will you..., will you take care of Zoro for me?"

Sanji's parted his lips in a mild surprise. Now he understood the subtle meaning of acceptance. No wonder there was a distant, but a happy expression on Saga's face.

The cook nodded, "I...I will."

"He said your voice reminds him of Sanji. So if you smile, laugh, cook, and tell him stories that will make his life worthwhile." All of a sudden Saga glanced at Sanji, "Do you like Zoro?"

The sudden question made him turn red all over. The cook nodded, "Y-Yes."

"It's not my right to say this, but you should keep it down," Saga lowered his head and he chuckled dryly, "-because Zoro doesn't think of you in that way."

Sanji froze in his tracks. The rest of the group didn't realize he stopped so they kept on walking. His mind fell into a deep thought, pondering on Saga's warning. It didn't make sense. Why would Zoro not like him? He was Sanji. But it bothered him because Law's previous warnings whirled around in his mind.

-.-.-

When they were walking up the hill toward Law's home, they saw that the house was surrounded by dozens of slick black cars. Sanji irked. Law frowned. Kidd raised an eyebrow. Saga slapped a hand on his face. Zoro just stared, not understanding why everyone stopped. Then even the blind man realized the strange commotion when he heard a sobbing cry of a woman.

"Saga!" One of the doors flung open and a tall, slender woman bolted down the hill. The woman was beautiful with creamy skin and her exotic sharp features on her chin, cheek, and along her eyes. Her vibrant blue hair billowed in the chilly wind. Golden earrings, necklaces, and bracelets jingled as she ran. She raised the hems of her dress to prevent from tripping but she lost her balance because of her tall heels. Saga broke away from the stunned crowd and reached out to catch her.

"M-Maya!" Saga gasped as he helped her stand up, "Calm down. I'm here."

She brushed off her dress and, raising her hand, she punched Saga all over his chest. Her strength was weak so her punches felt like pats, "Saga you stupid stupid stupid! I was so worried!"

Saga seized both of her wrists and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry Maya."

Zoro stepped up and greeted the couple with a smile, "Good afternoon Maya. I see you've gotten the Den-Den Mushi message from Law."

Maya pushed herself away from her fiancé's arms and she took a bow, "Mr. Roronoa. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry that Saga caused you trouble." She then gathered Zoro's hands into hers and gave them a light squeeze.

"Ah, it's fine. It's always fun when he's around."

"He's lying," Law whispered in Sanji's ear, "The man can get annoying when he wants Zoro to say yes to his proposal." This, Sanji assumed, was just Law's opinion, so he let it slip through his other ear.

Maya grabbed Saga's sleeve, "Please come home Saga. Grandma is anticipating for your return."

Saga nodded and gave Maya a gentle kiss. "Would you wait for a minute? I want to say a few words before I go." Maya nodded and watched him go. When she saw him go over to Zoro and gave him a peck on the lips, her face suddenly turned red and she made a mixture of disdain and anger.

"Saga, you bastard!"

"Saga you cheater!"

"Saga you bi-whore!"

"What'd you call me Law?"

"God Saga." Zoro frowned as he put a hand over his mouth, "Don't make Maya cry."

"This will be my last." Saga assured. Then he moved toward Sanji, slipping his hand into his breast pocket, "Mr. Rob, I want to give you this. It's a token of friendship from me." When Sanji took the object in his hands, his eye boggled at it. It was two tickets to a week ride on the Bakansu cruise ship. "The departure is the day before Christmas. The cruise ship will take you up North to see the Kuzan Glacier. Since you have two tickets, you can invite _someone_ to go with you." Saga stressed the last sentence so that Sanji would understand. Sanji blushed yet again and nodded, "I hope you can persuade him..."

When he was finished he gave a brief handshake with Law and Kidd and returned back to Maya's side. She didn't look exactly pleased and she proved it by tugging tightly on Saga's ear and gave him a peck on the cheek. Law snickered at the jealous woman and Maya blushed in embarrassment at her rashness.

Sanji glanced at the tickets and then at Zoro. This was going to be his first time asking Zoro out to anything. Going on a weeklong Christmas cruise to the North was one gigantic step. Zoro and his relationship were getting close, closer than he ever had when he was Sanji Black. A date would be a fantastic way to gain more intimacy. Zoro would definitely want to go, since it was one of his dreams to travel with Sanji.

When Saga finished saying good-bye, he gathered his bags and was swept away from the stampede of black cars. Law helped Zoro take him upstairs so he could take a bath, change, and relax in his favorite seat by the window for a while before an early nap. Sanji waited behind the door of Zoro's room because he didn't want to talk while Zoro was changing. He already had an embarrassing morning, so he learned to not do it again. To add salt to a wound, Law knew what Sanji had done in the bathroom. For when Law came out from the patient's room with the clothes Zoro worn earlier, he said with a snicker, "You can come in now. He's not naked." The cook snarled and Law laughed, moving to the side so Sanji could enter.

He closed the door behind him, waited until the sounds of Law's footsteps died away, and then took a deep breath. He opened his eye and Zoro was sitting in the armchair looking beautiful as ever. The patient slipped into a loose sweater and gray slacks. White slippers flipped around when he crossed his legs. There wasn't a book lying on his lap today. Instead, Zoro stared out toward the window, dazing dreamily as if in a trance.

When Sanji took his first step, Zoro broke from his reverie and turned his attention on the cook.

"Sanji-san? I didn't know you were standing there."

"Ah...d-don't worry...I entered just a second ago..." Sanji fumbled his hands so he stuffed them in his pocket to keep them in control, "Zoro...um..." his voice faded. Nervousness crept up his throat.

Zoro chuckled and attempted to look at Sanji, "I'm listening."

Courage welled up and burst the nervousness that prevented him to speak, "U-Um Zoro...Saga gave me free tickets to go on a cruise during the holiday weekend."

"Saga did that?" Zoro grinned, "Well, aren't you happy? That's quite a rarity."

"Y-Yeah...and I got an extra so," Sanji swallowed, licking his dry lips, "D-Do you want to go with me?" He blushed and his face felt so hot, it was like having a fever. His heart was like mush and butterflies were flying all over his stomach. He waited for a second. Two seconds. Five. Ten. Zoro remained silent. Confused, Sanji lifted his head to see what expression Zoro was making. He looked...perplexed.

"W-Why would you want to go with me?" Zoro asked, "Sanji-san, go with someone else who can _see_. I'll guarantee you will have a better time."

"B-But Zoro, I want to go with you-"

"No Sanji-san," Zoro's subdued voice suddenly lightened up, "Ah, why don't you invite Law? You and he are becoming good friends. That will be a wonderful Christmas experience."

"No Zoro! I don't want to go with Law! I want to spend time with-"

Zoro shook his head, "Don't. If you don't want to go with Law, find somebody else."

Sanji's fists shook in rage. Why would he not say yes? Sanji was asking him out, regardless if he was Sanji-san!

The cook glared at the floor, losing eye contact with the other man (even though there wasn't an eye contact in the first place) "Zoro...if...if Sanji Black suddenly appeared out of nowhere and invited you to spend Christmas time with him right this moment, what are you going to do?"

Zoro's blind eyes partially widened from the sudden question. It was a surprise Sanji had never seen before. It was a mixture of longing and hope, and it wrenched Sanji's heart. Then Zoro's cheeks turned into a faint pink color. He chuckled nervously, but in a melancholy manner, "I-I don't know, but that...that will be a dream come true."

Sanji was struck with utter shock. Now, finally, he understood Law and Saga's warnings. He never thought of it because he was Sanji. He only thought the differences between Sanji Black and Sanji Rob were the last names. Oh how he was terribly wrong.

Zoro loved Sanji Black

Zoro did not love Sanji Rob.

Tears gushed out from Sanji's eye. Zoro heard the cook sniffle and he took it in a different direction, "Oh, I-I didn't mean it compare you to Sanji, Sanji-san. It's just...Sanji was my life and if that ever happened I..."

"Why Zoro?" Sanji gasped through sobs, "Why do you still love the man who treated you wrongly?"

The man shrugged, "I don't know. Love is a strange thing isn't it?"

Sanji swore he heard this phrase somewhere but now was not the time. He needed to spill out his feelings. "Zoro! I-I can't stand seeing you like this! Please Zoro, if my voice sounds like Sanji, then let me be Sanji! I'll cook for you, help you, and love you, the way you wanted Sanji to-"

"Stop Sanji-san!" Sanji froze, his mouth parted open as he panted and sniffled. Zoro furiously shook his head, "I don't want that."

"Why...?"

"Because then you'll feel miserable. I'll always see you as someone else and I don't want that. I don't want to hurt you in that way."

"Zoro I won't care! I don't want you to dream for Sanji and be heartbroken because you can't reach out to him!"

"This is how my life came to be and I am going to accept it. I am not going to drag you into this!"

"But...Zoro, I-I love-"

"You mustn't love me Sanji-san." The pain in Zoro's eyes was evident. "I'm not worth anything." The patient shielded his eyes with his hand. Zoro breathed out, but his voice came out as a frail shaking whisper, "Sanji-san, I'm sorry but could you please leave the room? I need to..." Zoro's frame shivered and he turned away to silence his crying. Sanji wanted to reach out and help but that was Sanji Black's job. He wasn't allowed to touch him in that way. Sanji trembled in rage and felt ashamed on how jealous he was of the decade ago self.

Sanji spun on his heels and rushed toward the door. He wanted a private place to cry also. When he closed the door and descended the stairs he saw Law at the bottom of the staircase. The man looked worried, well he should be because his patient and nurse were arguing loud enough for him to hear from the first floor. Law's eyebrows were pinched together and his lips were pressed tight in a line. The doctor was juggling his emotions; whether to comfort Sanji or to berate him for being an idiot all this time. The huge gap between the two emotions was so wide they made his face a little funny.

But Sanji couldn't laugh.

Just seeing Law, the man who always had a sour attitude toward everyone but himself, standing there with a hesitant manner brought more tears falling from Sanji's eye. The cook ran down the rest of the stairs and threw his arms around the now startled doctor.

"Sanji-!"

"L-Law," Sanj hiccupped and choked, burying his face in the crook of Law's neck, "I'm so stupid! Why did I leave him! Why did I hate him?"

Law rolled his eyes, feeling uncomfortable having someone other than Kidd hugging him this close. But he wrapped his hands around his shaking, crying, heartbroken friend and held him tight, "Sanji, don't lose yourself. You still have a chance. You're the one and only Sanji, the one who Zoro loves. It might take a year or so until Zoro can see again. Can you survive that? Will you be able to bear another year until you can finally send your feelings across?"

"Zoro waited for ten years. I think I can survive a year."

"I like your spirit." Law patted his back with a smile, "You can do it Sanji, and remember, I'll support you the whole way."

It was Sanji's first time to hear such nice words from Law. Sanji let out a ragged breath and a wave of lament swept over him like a wave. Then he pulled Law even closer, curled inside Law's chest and cried.

**To Be Continued**


	7. Ch 6 Sea Moon See You

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**Thank you everyone for reading The One and Only!** **This is the final chapter!**

A year and a half passed. Winter left a thin blanket of snow over the rooftops of homes, bushes, and the tops of the trees. A week or so, the snow was going to melt away and spring would welcome all brilliant and warm beings. Sanji pulled away the white curtains to look out from the tall arch windows. He was now twenty-nine. He still worked at the Baratie Restaurant. He rose from a dishwasher to the right handed man of Chef Zeff within a year. While he spend most of his time sharpening his skills, the rest he visited Law's Clinic. As Nurse Sanji, he helped Law clean the house, make food for the patients, and spend intimate time with Zoro.

Zoro was thirty-one and was still blind, but Law's daily therapy session was working.

It was a chilly winter morning when Law held a candle near Zoro when the green haired man let out a silent gasp.

"What Zoro?" Law asked as he slowly pulled away the candle so that he could carefully examine Zoro.

The patient blinked a few times and then narrowed his eyes as if he was really using his eyes. Then he parted his lips in a small o shape. "I...I can see."

"What?"

"I see the...the border of the candle. It's a little blurry, but I can see!" On this exclamation, the aura surrounding Law brightened like spring. Zoro was able to make out a faint outline of the candle light. The doctor blew the candle out and then leaned toward Zoro's face.

"Can you see me?"

Zoro squinted but then he shook his head, "No, I can't."

Law straightened up, "Hmm, I guess this means that you can see bright things." Law smiled, "I'll open the curtains, so tell me how much you can see from there." The doctor leaped off the bed and hurried to open the windows. He yanked the curtains away and thrust the windows open, the bright sunlight shot and bounced to every nook and cranny of the room. Law caught Zoro squinting and he grinned for the patient never done this before.

"How about now?"

"I...I see the shape of the window...and a silhouette of you and the table."

Law nodded and noted in his head that Zoro was now able to see borders of every object, if they were in front of a bright light such as the sun. Law was literally jumping up and down, "Zoro, let's have a party!"

"A party?"

"Yeah, a sushi party!"

Zoro laughed, "But Law, I'm not completely cured."

"But you're _almost_ cured! This is a big step Zoro!" Zoro chuckled because the young doctor was as hyper as a child playing on a fresh blanket of snow. He remembered that Law loved anything fun, crazy, and had good food.

"Alright alright. Let's have a sushi party."

"Yeah!" Law raised both of his hands up in the air and cheered. He then picked up the Den-Den Mushi and began dialing the numbers, "What kind of _neta_ would you like to eat?"

"Hmmm...I'll let you chose Law."

"Really! Yes!" Law flipped open an article containing a list of different sushi. Before he pressed the number, he realized he forgot something very important. Two things in fact. "Zoro, can I invite Kidd over?"

"If you want."

"I'll call in the other room...in the meantime...Sanji!" Law shouted as loud as he could so that the cook downstairs could hear. Silly thing was that Sanji was in his room, which was on the second floor, examining out the window. The cook flinched at the sudden loud voice calling for him and he rushed out of his room.

"What?" Sanji frowned as he stepped into Zoro's room.

"Sanji! Zoro can see!"

At this Sanji stood still and he timidly glanced over at Zoro. His heart was thundering against his ribcage like a beast ready to escape. He wasn't ready for it yet! But, Law's next words eased him a tad bit, "Oh, but he can only see things with light. Unfortunately, he can't see colors or details." Law patted Sanji's back before leaving the room to talk to Kidd. "Show him a bit of you."

Sanji swallowed and turned to Zoro who was glaring at the windows, trying to make out the shape and size. His nervous feet tentatively approached the bed and he gently laid his hands on the bed.

"Uh...Zoro, can you really see?"

Zoro nodded, "Yeah, I can see...but only the outline of the window..." he turned to Sanji while speaking. Then a strange look etched across Zoro's face. This made Sanji sweat from head to toe. "S-Sanji-san, I-I didn't know you were...tall."

Sanji scoffed, "You imagined me short?"

"No, but I...I never thought you would look like..." Zoro's voice trailed off and Sanji's heart was crushing under the immense pressure. Zoro looked slightly shocked to find out that Sanji-san's silhouette was identical to Sanji Black's. He probably imagined Sanji Rob to be a complete opposite so that he would not confuse himself. Sanji's heart did all of these terrible twisting, wrenching and it made him feel gloomier.

After Sanji had confessed that he loved Zoro, the patient was doing all he could to deny it. He repeated hundreds of times that he did not want Sanji-san to fall in love with a man who had done wrong. To give Sanji a new chance at love, Zoro had introduced Sanji to many beautiful and successful people in hopes that the cook would love and marry. It hadn't worked, of course.

Suddenly, Law burst into the room with the Den-Den Mushi perched on his shoulder, "Kidd said he's going to come!"

Zoro smiled, "Did you already order?"

"Oh oh, I ordered tons of different kinds! Was your favorite ootoro or toro?"

"Toro, but I like akami too. What's your favorite Sanji-san?"

"Uh...squid."

"I ordered those! Sanji, come down and help set up the plates!"

Sanji nodded, "Got it." Before closing the door, his eye flickered over to Zoro. The patient was staring down at his hands, moving them around toward the sunlight so he could see their outline. There was a faint smile on Zoro's face. The patient was one step closer to meeting Sanji.

Slowly, but surely, Zoro was beginning to see.

And slowly, but surely, Sanji became restless.

-.-.-

Law sat before his desk, supposedly filling out a chart for his recent patient. Of course he wasn't because how could he when his left hand got in the way? He grinned uncontrollably at the silver ring around his ring finger. He twirled his hand around a hundredth time today to see it sparkle in the sunlight. A perfect angle was needed to gleam as if the sparkle was the gem on the ring. Kidd's new invention was accepted and manufactured in the Wado Company. Its sells were soaring above the roof.

Thus the ring around his finger.

Kidd offered a fancier, prettier, and expensive ring because he now had the luxury to do so, but Law liked simple. He did, however, have his name and Kidd's imprinted on the inner side of the ring. The doctor twirled his hand once more time and he covered it with his other hand. He chuckled mirthfully, his mind developed many blissful marriage plans. He desperately wanted to run to Sanji's room and show him the ring. Again. He knew he shouldn't because that would hurt the blond's feelings.

But he didn't care.

Law abandoned his charts and skipped up the stairs. He then stealthily tip toed past Zoro's room because the man was taking a nap. When sleeping, the man's senses were dulled down but he was still sensitive enough to wake up to the slightest sounds. When he approached Sanji's room, he knocked on it twice.

"Sanji, can I come in?" Before he heard Sanji's answer, the doctor entered. He gave a quick look around the bedroom and found that it was empty. So the only place available was the bathroom, so the doctor flung open the doors of the bathroom. "Sanji! What are you doing in the bathroom? Something kinky-?" His voice fainted and was dropped out of his lips, unable to reach to the blond's ears. Law's mouth was open slightly at the sight of Sanji. His eyes scanned up and down and all over the blond's face.

Then Law started, "W-What happened to your...hair?" He pointed to his own set of short black bangs. He was used to seeing Sanji with his bangs covering his right eye. The cook also had more facial hair around his chin. Now, the bangs were switched on the left side and part of his mustache was gone. Only a small scruffy of a goatee remained. It must have taken him hours to switch the bangs to the other side and to _keep_ it there.

Sanji placed the comb and dryer on the counter. He sighed sadly before he raised his head to look at himself in the mirror, "T-This is what I looked like when I was attending Grand Line University."

"Hou. So why the hell did you change?"

"Do I look bad?"

"No. You look fine both ways."

"Thanks." Sanji smiled but it had no emotion put into it.

Law frowned, scrutinizing the strange behavior. Recently Sanji had grown depressed and lost the lively, bouncing personality. The verbal fights he and Sanji shared were rarely done. Why would the man who only walked toward the future suddenly decide to go back? Then suddenly, upon remembering the recent events, it struck Law's head like a hammer.

"Oh Sanji...why?" Law folded his arms, "I thought you had more balls than that."

Sanji sulked and he steadied himself by bracing both of his hands on the sink. "I...I know, but I-I'm not confident anymore..."

"Why?" Law felt stupid for asking that. If he was in Sanji's shoes, he would feel the same way.

The tears started to well up into the cook's eye, "The more Zoro's getting better the more scared I am! What if he is disappointed in me? What if he doesn't like the new me? What if...what if he _still_ doesn't realize I'm Sanji? I-If that ever happens-I-I can't take it-!"

Suddenly he was struck hard across the face with a loud smack. He slid down the sink, using his hands to cushion his fall. His head swayed from the slight dizziness so he stared up at Law with a dumbstruck expression.

"Don't think that you fool!" Law snapped, "He's looking forward to seeing Sanji, so why would he not recognize you?"

"But I changed so much Law!"

"Humans change! It's not a big of a deal! What matters is _how_ they changed!" Law squatted down so he could level his eye contact with the cook. He jabbed his finger hard into Sanji's ribs, earning a pained grunt, "What would have happened if you never heard Zoro's reason to cure his blindness? You would've done anything but forgiving him! I know you're suffering, but Zoro is suffering too!" Law raised his hands up, "So don't do this stupid shit!" Before Sanji could defend, the doctor jammed his hands into Sanji's hair and messed it up so much that it was a tangled golden puff. All the four hours of gelling, coming, and drying went down the drain. Sanji looked pissed, but the dismal look was wiped off clean.

This time, Law gently threaded his fingers through the messy fluff of hair, "Don't do this anymore Sanji."

Sanji feebly nodded and brought Law's hands down on his lap. The cook bent his head down and whispered a few "thank you" s. Law caught every single one of them and he smiled. "Zoro will definitely love the new you." The cook nodded again, but now there was a tiny, subtle smile on his beautiful face.

While the two had a confrontation, Zoro woke up from his light nap. Recently, his naps were really light; a slight sound was able to wake him up. He heard shouts, but they were inaudible. It was probably just Law and Sanji fighting again. But, long ago he was able to sleep through sounds that were as loud as an instrument band. He wasn't this sensitive before. Zoro pulled himself up in a sitting position, and he grunted while doing so. He knew the reason and one of them was age. His father complained many times that he had difficulty sleeping, so he bought new mattresses every week to sustain his blissful slumbers. Was he coming around that age when he needed brand new mattresses updated every week? He didn't think so because the second reason was much more relevant.

He was excited.

His eyes were getting better, which means that he was going to meet Sanji. It was twelve years, twelve years since he saw Sanji. He wondered what he looked like now. Maybe he grew some wrinkles, and his hair was a pale blond color. Or, since the man took care of himself he might be maintaining the same youthful appearance.

Did Sanji finally achieve his dream restaurant at the country, All Blue? Was he able to afford all of the things he wanted for the restaurant? Twelve years did pass, surely the blond found a successful job to save enough money to complete his dream. Whenever he closed his eyes or feel the wind on his face, he imagined what Sanji was doing and how he was supposed to arrive at the restaurant and apologize to him.

He started by how he should dress. Would Sanji be more offended if he wore something fancy or humble? Should he drive to the restaurant on a taxi or on his favorite car, or abandon the choices and walk instead? Should he smile or frown? Would it be better if he appeared publically or keep it a low profile? Would Sanji be able to recognize him? Law did say his green hair started to look more like sea moss than a lush forest, but other than that he looked the same, minus the wrinkles.

Zoro had been planning for the last five years, and he decided it was best to keep it modest. Sanji would recognize him even if his hair color subtly changed or the humble appearance. The cook hated him, and people who were hated were singed in the darkest memories. He wouldn't care if Sanji attacked him, cursed at him, or wished him dead. This was his own selfish needs, but if he was able to apologize, then he would be free.

He had been shackled, dragging along regret and misery. All through his life, he was plagued by his mistake of being arrogant. Whenever he closed his eyes, he was forced to see the scene like a horror movie. To save himself, he slept only one per two days. If he didn't do this, it made him hate himself even more. After becoming blind, the darkness replayed terrible memories of him taking advantage of Sanji.

If only he hadn't done that then maybe he and Sanji would have been friends, but he knew that was not realistic. After the breakup, Zoro would have left him. He wouldn't be able to stand the fact that their relationship stayed as 'friends'.

Zoro sighed because he suddenly remembered Sanji Rob. When he saw the silhouette of him, it was as if Sanji Black was there. Now that he perceived the fact that Sanji Rob had the same silhouette, this meant danger. The more he was close to Sanji Rob, the more he was overlapping him with Sanji Black. He couldn't do that to the man. Zoro had to do something, and there was only one thing to do.

He needed to disappear.

"Law!" Zoro called out loud. While he listened to the footsteps to make sure that it was only Law, he reached over to pull out a rolled up document out of the drawer. Soon, the familiar 'Law footsteps' approached the door. The doctor knocked on it twice before entering. When he entered, Zoro was vaguely able to see the spiky hair.

"Hey, awake already?"

"Yeah, I heard you guys arguing."

"D-Did you hear us?"

"No." Upon this, Law clicked his tongue. "Can you close the door? I want to speak to you privately."

"Sure." Zoro made sure Law shut the door by staring at the outline of the door and the sound of it closing. The doctor pulled up a chair and sat close to Zoro's bed. "So, what's up?" Zoro silently handed the document in Law's hand. The man stared at it and then up at Zoro, "May I open it?" When Zoro nodded, the doctor carefully unrolled the paper. It was a blueprint of a house of some kind.

"What's this?"

Zoro smiled, "This is the house I'm planning to live in."

"Sweet." Law ran his finger around the windows and doors. "Are you going to build it here?"

"I changed my mind. Remember the island I bought?" Law frowned at the island that Sanji and Zoro's wedding would have been held. It was a small island Zoro bought for some billion dollars. There, he had planned to build a chapel, an amusement park, and a massive mansion to spend the rest of the years with Sanji. Zoro was supposed to surprise the soon-to-be bride, but because of a turn of events everything was abandoned and turned into rust by the ocean winds. "Well, I'm going to build it there."

"Hou..." Law nodded, "That's a good idea. It's a waste to buy an island and just ditch it. So where's it at? You never told me the location."

Zoro smiled, but he decided to ignore the last question, "Law, can I ask a question?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you paying Sanji-san?"

"No. He says he's just here to volunteer."

"Is he going to stay after I leave?"

Law snorted, "I wish."

"So that means he's here because _I'm_ here." Here, Zoro dropped his shoulders like heavy weight. "About the question you've asked-"

"Where's your island located?"

Zoro nodded. "I'll tell you the location under one condition."

"What's that?"

The half-blind man took a deep breath, "If you promise me to not tell Sanji-san about it."

The sneer Law had on his face vanished. "Why."

"I don't want him to know."

Law's voice lowered, "Do you hate Sanji Rob that much?"

"No!" Zoro stopped himself and slowly shook his head, "No Law. I-I love him. I love everything about him...which is why I need to get away from him. Because every time Sanji-san asks me what I want to eat or when he tells me about the things he did at the Baratie, I feel miserable. I feel bad because I always wish that it was Sanji who was doing this instead of him. I love Sanji-san, but never in the way had I loved Sanji.

"What's worse is that Sanji-san's in love with me!" At this, Zoro fell into a fit of laughter. Law knew that the man was laughing to hide his sadness. The green haired man bent over to muffle his laughter with his hands, and he kept those hands over his mouth and eyes, "Ahh, why is my life so difficult? If only those words were from Sanji..."

"...would you be happier?"

"...I'll be..." Zoro chuckled lightly, "Law, don't let me think in that direction." Law nodded feebly and sighed. The doctor couldn't wait to see Zoro's reaction when his eyes were cured and saw 'Sanji-san.' He prayed Zoro wouldn't _die_ of happiness.

Law crossed his arms, "Then, I don't want to know where your island is."

"Ahh, Law..."

"What?" Law placed his hands on akimbo, "I'm sorry, but I want you to be happy. So I think you should marry Sanji Rob."

"I think I should leave out of Sanji-san's life."

"I won't let you."

"Try it Law. In a week or so, that house is going to be finished. My eyes should be cured by then, and when they do I'll leave without saying goodbye."

"Not even to me?" Law frowned.

"Unless you want to know where I'm going to live."

"No thank you." Zoro huffed and retrieved the blueprint. He can make out the shape of the blueprint, but the rest was a dark shade of gray. "Hey, are you _suddenly_ going to vanish?"

Zoro chuckled, "Even I can't do that. The house is empty, so I need to order pieces of furniture that I will enjoy _looking_. In the meantime, I'll remain here. Will that be alright with you?"

"If you keep paying the hospital bills."

Zoro snorted, "What an expensive renting home."

"That's because our service comes with a delicious meal made by a Baratie chef."

Zoro laughed lightly and then suddenly remembered what Law said earlier, "Sanji-san isn't paid right?"

"Yeah."

"I know that once my eyes are healed I'm planning to not see him again, so I want to thank him for taking care of me all this time." Zoro placed the pad of his thumb on his lip, "Let's see...I think I'll sign a check for fifty-thousand Beli for every day he has helped me."

"T-that's about..." After Law calculated in his head, he dropped his jaw, "Aw, I wish you pay me that much."

"I do pay you that much."

"There's a difference between 'paying because you have to' and 'paying because you want to.'"

Zoro snickered, "You say the most interesting things."

"...really?" Law shrugged, "I don't think I'm trying to be funny." Zoro snickered again, and then began to slide out from his bed, "Where are you going mister?"

"A walk."

"What about your nap?"

"Can't sleep." Zoro ran his hands along the bed sheets as he turned the corner, "I kind of want to see the darkness before I get better."

"Are you going to miss it?"

Zoro stood in place, so he could think about it. It surprised Law by how long it took for Zoro to answer. "Depends." Zoro left the silent doctor in his room, and he descended the stairs.

When he reached the first floor, he heard Sanji following right behind him. Zoro stopped and looked over his shoulder to appear he was looking towards the cook. As he carefully listened to Sanji's quick footsteps, he guided his eyes to a moving figure amidst the dark gray.

"I'm walking with you." Sanji announced when he reached the first floor also. Zoro smiled and decided to wait for the cook to get his coat, hat, scarf, gloves, sunglasses, and the cane. When he did, he felt the soft velvet touch of the coat and hat, the slender smooth surface of his sunglasses, the bumpy ridges of the knitted scar and gloves, but Sanji did not bring the cane. The cook always never brought it because he always walked together with Zoro. He quickly wrapped the coat around his body and buttoned all of the shiny black buttons. After he squeezed the hat over his sea foam green hair, he lifted his arm a little to allow Sanji's arm to go through. Zoro felt the comfortable warmth when Sanji slipped his hands around Zoro's arm, and he leaned toward Sanji's body. He felt the cook's frame stiffen, and Zoro faintly chuckled.

"Where do you want to go today Zoro?"

"Maybe down the block."

The block Zoro always walked contained all of the tiny family stores. At the corner of the block, there was The Meshi Restaurant. The man had walked down that road and visited those stores so many times that he was able to go there on his own. However, today he felt like walking with Sanji because he wanted company.

Sanji moved his head to give a nod. When he did, the slight motion blew wind through his hair. Zoro smelled a spicy tang of cigarettes and cinnamon. He liked the scent, but at the same time it brought back memories. Sanji had the same smell too.

"Sanji-san,"

"Yes?" Sanji asked as he pushed the front doors open, so that he could guide Zoro. The icy wind instantly bit Zoro's nose. Sanji tried to avoid mounds of snow, but Zoro felt some cracking underfoot. He liked the sound just as much as he liked seeing it. He knew he was going to miss the world where he only depended on sound.

"What are you planning to do after I leave Syrup?"

Sanji produced a low noise from the back of his throat. "W-what do you mean?"

Zoro outstretched his right arm to touch the outer gate of Law's home to brush off the snow, "I heard from Law that once I leave the clinic you won't work here anymore. What are you going to do for the rest of your life?"

Sanji stammered, "I-I want to continue working at the Baratie until I get enough experience and money to make my own restaurant." This was starting to become half true: he was now saving money for something else.

The walk down the block was silent, but peaceful. They walked hand in hand while they stepped over snow covered sidewalks. Zoro moved his head from time to time to scan the streets. He mumbled at the shapes of the stores and the shapes of the trees as he trailed his dull eyes over them. Sanji nodded and told the other man concise descriptions of the stores and the people working there by color, shape, and size. Zoro listened to them very intently. The man never asked these kinds of questions before because he never was interested in it. But as Zoro asked these questions, the man's voice had a subtle hint that he was not planning on not living here.

Sanji guided Zoro across the street, so they could head home while looking at the stores on the other side. Here, Zoro also asked how the structure of the homes looked like, but all Sanji could interpret from it was "I am going to miss it." It took about an hour to return to the familiar white home. They were about to head in, when Zoro stopped him.

"Can you take me to the backyard?"

"Okay." Sanji hoped his voice didn't sound like he was shaking. He regretted wearing a thin jacket because the cold was seeping to his skin. The only part that was warm was his left arm that securely wrapped around Zoro's arm. So he squeezed his body close to the man's side, so the heat would not escape.

They walked alongside the wall of Law's clinic and to a small picket fence. Sanji unlatched the lock and pushed the door open, bulldozing the snow along the way. He took Zoro by the hand again and led him to a square table and chairs. A large umbrella hovered over the table, so thankfully it was not covered in snow. Sanji brushed some part of the chair so Zoro could sit down.

When Sanji sat down, he blushed when Zoro leaned onto his shoulder.

Zoro sighed slowly, as if he was drifting off to sleep. "...I'm going to miss it."

"Miss what?" Sanji asked. Zoro faintly gazed through his obscured vision. He saw the rough outlines of the table, the chairs, and the trees. The sky looked gray today with some whiter spots at higher points. Zoro smiled and closed his eyes.

Farewell to the blindess; he hoped to never have it again. Farewell to Law and Kidd; he wished them a happy marriage. Finally, Zoro bid farewell to Sanji-san. He thanked him for fulfilling a forever lost dream.

He was going to miss these wonderful years.

-.-.-

There was a heavy snowfall, so everyone remained at home with no communication whatsoever. This infuriated Law because he had planned to meet with Kidd and order wedding outfits, reserve a place at some pretty hotel, and other 'soon-to-be-married' couples did. It seemed as if his anger melted all of the snow away because the following day the doctor didn't need any arm power to open the door. This excited Law, so he called Kidd (he was happy that the Den-Den Mushi connected) right away. The other man grunted a yes, and told him that he was going to pick him up on his recently bought car.

It was the afternoon when Law wrapped up in a large warm jacket, a long yellow and black spotted scarf, and a white and black spotted hat that fell down to his eyebrows. He also had black gloves, and he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't show off his engagement ring. Sanji stood by the front gate watching the elated doctor getting ready to go.

"I said I wanted our wedding to be held at the summer island, but no-. He said he doesn't want to have a honeymoon with a sunburned back. Really? Honeymoon is all about beach sex."

"Hey hey. Don't start an argument with your fiancé already."

"No, fights are meant to happen in every couple. I am going to win this battle." Law curled his fist into a fighting stance. "We are not going to have our honeymoon at a spring island."

"Good luck." Sanji called as he watched Law step out from his home, shouting out curses and other words that would surprise anyone out of their sleep. Sanji clasped his hands and said a brief prayer that their wedding plans ended well.

-.-.-

Zoro woke up to Law's loud curses. He cracked opened his eyes and stared absentmindedly at the clock. The analog clock pointed its arms to ten thirty-four. He sat up and then stared blankly at the pale white sheets. The detailed embroidery patterns on the sheets glared back at him. Something was off. He scratched at his hair and then peered into his hand.

Suddenly, he widened his eyes when he saw the exact color of it. He flipped his hand around, front and back. He brought it close to his face until it covered his vision and pulled it away to make sure he could still see his hand. He veered his attention back on the clock and saw the clock's shape and color perfectly. He then scanned the room he was in. He was taken aback at the extreme whiteness, but he was able to make out everything. He blinked several times. The scenery remained the same.

He could see.

He could finally see!

"Oh my god..." Zoro whispered as he peered into his hand once more. His body shook from the excitement and glee. He couldn't believe how clear and bright everything was.

"Law!" Zoro shouted, surprised for his voice was light and happy, "I can see! Come up here so I can see you!" He leaned toward the side so he could be ready to see the doctor. He listened attentively at the footsteps, but they sounded faint and indistinctive already. However, as the sounds drew closer, the pace was a slight slower than Law's, so he knew at once it was Sanji-san.

The footsteps stopped at the door. "Law's not here. He left to buy clothes and stuff for the wedding." He heard Sanji-san's familiar voice, but it was strangely faint and shaking.

Zoro smiled, "Come in Sanji-san. I would like to see what you look like."

There was a second of silence before the other made a movement. Zoro grinned like a child when he saw the actual doorknob turn. He leaned so far to the side, he looked like he was going to lose his balance and fall over the bed. But he didn't want to miss any of it. What did Sanji Rob look like? What color hair? What style of clothing did the man prefer? Did the outfit match him? Did the man smile often? The door opened slightly and Zoro took a deep breath.

He couldn't breathe.

When he saw the slender, beautiful figure of the cook with shining golden hair and deep blue eyes, Zoro froze. He couldn't move except his eyes which were frantically swimming all over Sanji, finding hundreds of things that reminded him of his first-and-last love. The man had changed over the decade, but it was only a few facial hairs around the chin and the switch of the bangs. Tears were falling out of his glossy, living eyes because _he_ was here.

When he was finally able to remember how to breathe, he whispered out in a wavering voice, "S-Sanji?"

The blond relaxed because he was elated that the man recognized him. He nodded and Zoro choked on his sobs, "Yes, it's me."

"Oh my god...Oh S-Sanji I-I...I'm so sorry-! I didn't-" Zoro was hyperventilating and he was trembling from head to toe. He covered his mouth to suppress his sobs, so he could speak clearly. Sanji stepped closer to Zoro's bed, and he slipped his hands over Zoro's wet hands. He raised them and cupped them on the sides of Sanji's face.

Zoro averted his gaze by staring down at the bed sheets. He felt like an old, broken record as he whispered 'I'm sorry' over and over again. He apologized for what he wanted to say for decades, but he also apologized for the last two years. He couldn't believe how stupid he was for not realizing it was _him_. Sanji had been with him for two years, but he couldn't believe it. He choked and hiccupped, yet he whispered on.

He stopped when he felt Sanji's finger on his lips. He raised his tear soaked face to see Sanji's handsome face.

"I've been thinking for the past two years," Sanji started in a gentle tone, "That I love being with you. You're really fun to talk to and you're always so nice to everyone. Sure...that event made me feel uncomfortable being near you, but thanks to Law and Saga, they helped me change."

Sanji let go of Zoro's hand for a minute to reach something out of his pocket. Zoro let out a gasp and fresh pools of tears poured out when he saw a purple velvet box. The tiny box opened and one shining silver ring with the Jozu diamond sparkled in his direction. Zoro stuttered, unable to say anything coherent, so tears fell like rain answering for his utter happiness and disbelief. "Zoro, let's live together. I'll cook meals for you every day. I want to talk to you like lovers than friends. I've been alone for two years, and I need someone to safely lean on too. Zoro, love me because I..." Sanji wiped Zoro's face and kissed his longing lips.

"I forgive you."

**The End**

**Again, thank you very much for reading!**


	8. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**A/N: This chapter contains artificially flavored lemon. I****t seems like lemon, but it's too sweet. **

Zoro sat in the living room of Law's Clinic with a warm cup of coffee held tightly in his hands. He touched the surface and stared at the light blue shade of the cup. His eyes followed the faint waft of water vapor floating out from the coffee. His eyes finally fell and stopped at the shining engagement ring on his hand. It felt as if the object was another mirage he had conjured hundreds of times. In a second, it would disappear like it always had-but it didn't. It stayed on his finger, and to prove its existence, he heard it chime when it hit the cup.

He heard someone enter the kitchen. There was a gentle pouring sound of a cup filling up with something. The footsteps approached, and Zoro unintentionally stood up when Sanji walked in with his own cup of coffee.

Sanji froze at the door, surprised at Zoro's sudden movement. He then pulled up a warm smile, "I came to have coffee with you."

"Ah," Zoro breathed before he slid back down into his seat. When Sanji sat across from Zoro, he saw the other went still. Zoro stared intensely at his own cup of coffee and was squeezing the earthenware until his knuckles were white. He wasn't relaxed.

With a smile on his lips, the cook reached to wrap his hands around Zoro's. The man snapped out from the cold stare and raised his head to meet with Sanji's eyes. Seeing Sanji's happy demeanor, the smile finally appeared on Zoro's face, but it was strained with nervousness.

Zoro glanced at Sanji, then at the cup, and finally at their engagement rings. The man who was sitting in front of him was really Sanji. They were both drinking matching cups, a thing any happy couple did. There was a real engagement ring on their fingers, and today they were going to make plans for their marriage.

_This wasn't a dream_, Zoro repeated to himself, _this wasn't a dream_.

When he focused onto Sanji's warm hands, he noticed that the cook was moving his mouth. Zoro gasped, which startled Sanji.

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't hear you...what were you saying?"

Sanji beamed, and it relieved Zoro that the mood wasn't the opposite, "I was wondering what kind of package you wanted for the wedding. There's the A package, which has an amusement park and a dance hall rental. It's a bit expensive, but I have enough. We can get that one. Or, we could get the B package, which has the whole wedding on the cruise ship, so it only has a water park. But we could get the one Kidd and Law had-"

"Sanji-" Zoro swallowed up the 'san', so his name sounded lengthened. Sanji made this 'rejected' look whenever Zoro accidentally called him by that name. "Sanji, I...I think we should lay off the whole package thing and make it simple."

Sanji's eye widened from shock, and then the cook replied in a weak voice, "B-But Zoro...it's our wedding..."

"I know, but we're...we're not that young anymore. I just want the wedding here, at Syrup. There's a chapel in town, and we could invite the townspeople. It doesn't need to be all fancy." Zoro smiled, "Besides, I don't want you to use all the money you have saved for the restaurant for the wedding. The engagement ring is enough. I'll pay everything, but I don't want it to be like the one I thought of long ago."

As he spoke, Zoro removed his hand off the cup and reached to touch Sanji's face, but it stopped before the cook's cheek. Sanji tilted his head to the side, so he could brush his cheek against Zoro's hand. It felt good, but Sanji felt like a cat being petted by someone who was deathly afraid of them.

Sanji pulled away and he scrutinized Zoro's face, "Zoro? What-?"

"Whoa, that was fun!" Sanji's voice was interrupted by Law's bright shout. The doctor flung the doors open with an armful of shopping bags. All had different types of famous brands plastered on the surface of the paper bags. Items of clothing, wallets, bags, and jewelry were pouring out from the bags' mouths. Kidd followed right after who also had armfuls of paper bags, but more in quantity. Law threw the bags on the couch and laughed when some of the items tumbled out.

"Oh my god, did you see the look on that clerk's face when you stashed out that card?" Law chuckled, "I guess a Poor stays looking like a Poor huh?"

When Kidd's eyes fell on Sanji, there was this strange look that always made Law laugh out loud. It was the look when someone announced that he was an alien from Mars. It took nearly two days for Law to explain the logical and illogical reason how Sanji Rob was really Sanji Black. Law was right about making the man confused. On the third day, when Kidd finally got the pieces fitting together, he fell ill from brain overuse. Kidd was fine now, but there was always that bizarre staring moment between the cook and engineer because Kidd had to think for a second.

Law laughed at the look and slapped his husband on the back, "Oh come on Kidd! He's Sanji!"

"I know that!" Kidd snapped, his face reddening from humiliation, "It's just weird."

"Why?"

"Because, if Sanji's Sanji, then why did Sanji have to act out like Sanji? Why didn't Sanji just be Sanji in the first place?"

Law placed his fingers on his own temples, "Kidd, I told you to say 'Black' and 'Rob' when we talk about this! And Kidd, it's confusing really."

"You know, it wouldn't have been this confusing if you have told me earlier."

"You don't realize it, but your head doesn't spin that fast."

"Hey, you guys," Sanji gave a slight wave of his hand to get the couple's attention, "we're in the room you know."

"What? We're not making out." Law abruptly changed the topic and snatched one of the larger bags out of Kidd's arms. He threw the bag to the side and unfolded the long material. "Look what Kidd bought me!" It was a long slender dress that fell down to Law's ankles. Zebra stripes covered around the top and the bottom was a black velvet fabric. (In this world, any gender could wear _anything_ and not be discriminated) "It's even a spaghetti strap so I can show off my tattoos!"

"That's really neat." Sanji replied, but the compliment wasn't enough for the doctor.

"Uh Kidd," Zoro started while standing up, "Can you come in my room for a second? I want to review the paperwork for the Den-Den humidifier before sending it."

"Sure thing Boss...er, Mr. Roronoa." Kidd shot a quick glance at Law asking where he should put all of the bags. After a few silent blinks and stares, the engineer just dropped all of them on the same couch. He gave Law a quick kiss before following after Zoro who already left the room.

When Kidd and Zoro were gone, the joking look on Law's face disappeared. Now he was scowling, so Sanji actually liked the earlier look better.

"What now?"

"I-Is it written all over my face?"

"It's hideous."

"Thanks." Sanji laughed bitterly, and he went right on the topic, "It's about Zoro..."

"What about him?"

"He...he hasn't touched me yet."

"Touch, like what? Sex?"

A faint blush appeared on Sanji's face. "No...not that. It's always me who's doing the kissing and holding hands. Zoro never does it first."

Law scratched at his thick black hair to think for a moment. He then raised those sleep deprived eyes and stared intently in Sanji's blue, bright ones, "Do you love Zoro?"

Sanji nodded, "I do."

A thought popped up from Sanji's head and it made him pallor. Before he could speak, Law butted in, "Before you say anything, Zoro loves you. He had loved you, loved you, loves you, and will always love you." Law brought his hands up like an elementary teacher who was introducing her students about addition. "You love Zoro just as equally as him loving you. So, you automatically believe that since you love him, Zoro will suddenly be all touchy-touchy, lovey-dovey with you."

"I thought...D-Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you're fine." Law replied honestly.

"Then why-?"

"Sanji, there is one thing that prevents Zoro from loving you freely."

"What is that?"

The doctor fell into silence. Then, he beckoned Sanji to come closer. The cook swallowed and slowly leaned his upper body toward Law. He moved his head to the side so that Law could cup his hands around his ear. His hands brushed over the cook's hair, and it was tickling him. Sanji closed his eye as anticipation built up in his stomach. He held his breath and was ready to listen. He felt Law's breath as the doctor slowly opened his mouth.

Law suddenly clamped his mouth shut, straightened up, and walked away. He left Sanji hanging. "Hey!" The cook caught Law by the shoulder and stopped him, "Finish what you were saying!"

"But you're an idiot." Law answered with a whiny voice that raked Sanji's nerves.

"I'm not that of an idiot!"

"Are you sure, dummy?" Law asked, using a nickname only he used. "You're not going to get confused?"

"I won't, so hurry up and tell me so I can fix this problem!"

Law's eyes narrowed to show indifference. "You really think it's going to be fixed that easily?"

"I-I think so." Love conquered all problems, didn't it?

Law sighed exasperatedly and decided to stop fooling around with the cook and say it straight, "The difference is that you forgot about Zoro for the _whole ten years_. Zoro _didn't_."

Sanji stared like a deer on headlights. "W-what does that have to do with-"

Law pinched Sanji's ear and shouted in it, "You fool! I knew it was a waste of time telling you! But I hope you keep that in mind because it's going to happen sooner or later. Then, maybe you'll realize it." Law straightened up the bags and chose a few articles of clothing.

Sanji rubbed his ear to soothe it from Law's shout. Why did Law always say something so important but so enigmatic? This was the second time Law did this, and the cook always realized it a bit late. Sanji crossed his arms, "Why do you always beat around the bush? Can't you just say it to me straightforwardly?"

Law shrugged it off lightly, "Sorry, but I'm gay." He threw the clothes on his shoulder and returned to the cook to poke him in the stomach, "If you keep on loving him, he'll eventually loosen up." Law left the dining room, and Sanji heard him calling to Kidd to take him out to dinner. The doctor chose the brand new clothes, so he could go out on a date in a luxurious style. Dinner reminded him; he needed to make dinner for Zoro.

Sanji scrambled up the stairs and passed Kidd who was leisurely walking down the stairs. The man looked intimidating, but peeling down the layers he was a very calm ox. He had an imperturbable manner when Law threw an expensive suit at him and criticized him for his impoverished style. When Sanji leaned over the balcony to see them arguing (or one side argument) Kidd was smiling. They were complete opposites, but wonderful couples. Sanji kind of envied the married couple. He wished that the mysterious tension between him and Zoro would weaken so that they could laugh freely.

-.-.-

Sanji and Zoro planned their wedding in the spring.

In the meantime, Sanji did all he could to get intimate with his fiancé. He held hands when they took a morning walk down to the park, they ate lunch at _The Meshi_ together, and Sanji always kissed Zoro when he had a chance. He always spoke in a calm, friendly voice so that the harsh tone he used to speak to Zoro ten years ago would disappear out of Zoro's memory. He often spoke random topics to make Zoro smile or laugh.

This gradually weakened the tight bubble Zoro had around him. The slight tremble the man had when he was around Sanji stopped. He also ceased to ask permission to hold Sanji's hand or kiss him. Finally, after a few weeks of close, intimate contact, Zoro was becoming the Zoro Sanji knew a decade ago. A pure, unrestrained smile danced on Zoro's face whenever Sanji was near him. Sanji truly believed that the 'problem' Law was referring to was cleared from Zoro.

It was until the marriage when the rocks started tumbling down.

-.-.-

The long waited spring had finally arrived. The trees were gaining their luscious greenery back. The flowers were sprouting from the earth and opened up to reveal their beautiful petals. Animals began to crawl out of their hiding spots and sang, pranced, and frolicked under the warm sun. The silent winter had ended and spring revived.

Nearly everyone in Syrup Village received the invitation and came to the marriage. Mainly, they wanted to go there because they knew that there was going to be good food. Others, mainly the women, wanted to see Zoro and his fiancé's wedding outfits. Since it was a formal wedding, villagers arrived with the best suits they could find (but it was usually stored in the darkest parts of the closet). If they handed the invitation, proof that they received it, their whole night was filled with wonderful music and free feasts.

The location was at the old chapel in the heart of Syrup Village. The building was restored-thanks to Zoro's donations-to its magnificent glory. Multiple colored lanterns glowed as the sun touched the horizon. The villagers' wishes came true; there were rows upon rows of tables overfilled with food many had never seen before. Dishes specifically made from North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, and West Blue was stationed in individual elongated tables so that the villagers could identify. Of course, they weren't allowed to touch it until the marriage ceremony started.

Kidd glanced out toward the window to see the villagers nearly drooling at the dishes the chefs were bringing out. He turned away from it and walked down the quiet stone hallway of the chapel. He was, strangely, the best man, so he was in charge of helping out Zoro. He took his sweet time getting to the room where the groom was changing. He thought there wasn't any problem since Zoro looked forward to this day.

When he peered inside, he knew there was something wrong with the groom. Zoro was standing before a large mirror, holding the wooden trimmed frame with his hands. However, those hands were white as bone. Zoro's whole body was quivering as if he was afraid.

"Mr. Roronoa?" Kidd asked with widened eyes. The sound of Kidd's voice made Zoro's body stiffen up, but he turned to face the engineer. The groom wore a handsome white suit with a white net-like material strapped around his hips like a skirt. The skirt draped down and pooled around his feet, so it seemed to swirl like a disturbed lake when Zoro turned his whole body around to look into Kidd's eyes. Zoro was horrifyingly pale, and his pupil was abnormally small. The man's shivering had not stopped.

"W-What happened, Boss? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Zoro took quick breaths as he combed his sweaty hair. He tried to laugh, but Kidd easily saw through his weak attempt, "I-I'm fine Kidd. It's nothing. It's just the nervousness. It'll go away."

Kidd raised an eye, "Are you sure about that?" For a man who usually rarely talked nonsense, Zoro was rambling like a drunken person. The engineer stepped into the room and walked over to the counter with a sink, "Do you want some water?"

"Ah...s-sure...thanks Kidd." Kidd actually wanted his own drink of water because Zoro's strange anxiety was stressing him out. He quickly filled two glasses of water and handed the groom one. The engineer swallowed up the cold drink with one swift gulp. The cooling feeling eased Kidd out, and his calm self returned.

"No, seriously Boss. You don't look good."

"Oh, don't tell me that Kidd. I can't possibly be sick." Zoro put his glass on a table and let out a small chuckle, "It's really just me getting nervous. It'll clear away when the ceremony is over."

"...you sure?" Kidd glanced up towards the ceiling as if the next words he was going to say were written up there, "I came to tell you that Sanji finished dressing up." Much to his chagrin, Zoro's face had gone whiter. He had expected it, but he didn't like how it turned out like he had imagined. Law had warned him of this, and his husband was right about it. The engineer walked up to Zoro and dropped his hands on the other man's shoulders to shake some life out of him. He gripped his hands tight on each shoulder, and he looked at Zoro right in the eyes, "Come on Boss, it's your wedding. You're going to marry Sanji. _You're really going to get married with Sanji_."

"I know I know." Zoro nodded, but his eyes were out of focus, "I know." However, the man shielded his eyes with his hands and whispered something. Kidd heard it clearly, and he felt the world crumble beneath him.

"Zoro, don't-" Kidd didn't realize he was calling him by his name, "it's not-"

"Kidd! What the hell is taking you so long? Bring the groom over! Everyone's dying over here!" Law's shout echoed all the way down the hallway and into the room. How the doctor managed to yell in that volume from complete opposite sides of the building was a mystery to Kidd. The engineer swallowed down what he was going to say because thanks to Law's voice the pallor look in Zoro was gone. The groom patted Kidd on the arm and smiled.

"Thanks, I...I feel better now. Let's don't make Law wait." Zoro silently slithered out the room, and that sight made Kidd shiver. The engineer glowered at the glass with water still filled all the way to the rim. The man hadn't drunk a drop of it.

"Damn you Sanji, I thought you fixed this." Kidd clicked his tongue. He quickly went out the door, but he didn't go in the direction where Zoro had gone. He rushed down the hall where Sanji was changing. Just as he expected, his husband was standing by the door. The man was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.

"Kidd! Really, what took you so long to get Zoro ready-" When the doctor saw his husband arrive with the dark, hurried expression, he straightened up. "Kidd? What happened?"

"Law, it's bad."

-.-.-

Sanji stood before a tall mirror and twirled around a couple of times. For a wedding outfit, there was a choice between a dress, a suit, or a suit-gown. They decided to both wear the suit-gown because it felt equal and it was easier to walk around than a wedding dress. He picked the skirt so he could walk down the steps without tripping.

Law peeked through the door, "Okay Sanji. You ready?"

"Yeah." Sanji smiled and reached out to hook his arm around Law. His heart was literally banging itself against his ribcage. It was his second marriage, but it still gave him this fearful, yet blissful anticipation. He was going to marry someone who would really love him and stay with him for the rest of his life. He couldn't wait to see Zoro's reaction. The man must be just as excited as he was.

Law had to ruin the moment.

"Sanji..." Law whispered as they walked together down the hall, "I kind of have to tell you something." When doctors used this phrase, it was always never good.

"Can you tell me this later, like after the wedding?"

"No." Law replied tersely, "You need to know this."

Sanji let out a sigh and leaned toward Law's voice, "What?"

"Zoro's not doing well."

"...what?"

"Zoro's not doing-"

"I-I've heard that. What do you mean by that?"

Law narrowed his eyes and the bags under them seemed to grow, "What I mean is that, what you have been attempting had failed. Zoro hasn't changed. The thing that is bothering him is _still_ bothering him."

"B-But we were doing great...you've seen us right?"

"Yeah, but this is different." Law averted his eyes for a moment because they had to turn a corner, "The nightmare has started and Zoro's freaking out."

Sanji did not understand what Law had just said, "What nightmare?"

Law's attention was now at the floor. "Zoro, he...he's starting to think that this is all some kind of dream."

Sanji couldn't help but make a face, "I...I don't understand."

"Sanji, think of it like this: Zoro loved you all this time, and he even dreamed about you. He probably dreamed of pure things like dates or this wedding here. Or something really intimate, like sex." Law then lowered his voice, "But at the peak of the happy moment, he wakes up. He realizes it was all a dream." Law peered into Sanji's face, "Do you get where I'm going here?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"For Zoro, good things for him equal a dream, a nightmare almost. When he wakes up, Zoro is _still_ alone. Everything was made up. You were _never_ near him. You _never_ agreed to the marriage. You _never_ allowed him to touch him. This _repeated_ for _ten years_. Something's going to happen in that brain of his."

Law stopped and stood in front of Sanji, "Right now, Zoro is in the happiest moment of his life. He is also dreading the end of _this_ dream. So, your job is to do everything that Dream Sanji didn't do."

"What?" Sanji exasperated, "First I had to act like Sanji-san, now I have to not act like Dream Sanji?"

"I know this is irritating, but if you don't want the marriage to end badly, you better be with him. Do not leave his side. Say sweet things, hold his hand, anything that will keep him in the real world."

"...do you think he'll say yes?"

"What?"

"'Yes' during the wedding ceremony-"

"He's not that petrified _yet_, but it'll happen during your guys' honey moon." Law paused and raised an eyebrow, "Did you guys do it already?"

"N-no-" Sanji bent his head. _We've never even slept on the same bed..._

"Hm, kind of expected. Then Zoro wouldn't be acting like this." They began walking again and they were a few meters away from the two tall doors, "Remember what I said Sanji."

"A-Alright."

When they stopped in front of the door, Law walked over to push it open. All of the villagers stood up from their seats and watched as the groom marched down the hall. Sanji lifted his head and saw Zoro standing near the podium. The cook paled when he saw the unnatural smile roughly plastered on his fiancé's face. When he stepped up the short flight of steps, he quickly held Zoro's hand.

If Law hadn't warned him earlier, he wouldn't have read the shiver barely rippling in his lover's hand.

-.-.-

The ceremony went along smooth and undisturbed. No one barged in at the ring exchange and steal anyone. Sanji's features had relaxed when they both vowed, making their promise to love and protect one another. He was more relieved at the fact that Zoro consented. His lover actually was calm, still, and extremely collected as he listened to the pastor. The calm manner remained when they each received their rings. Zoro actually produced a handsome smile when he slipped the golden band into Sanji's ring finger. The cook made sure that he had done the same thing, slipping the golden wedding ring and even gave it a little twirl to silently tell Zoro that this was really happening.

Sanji glanced over to the Eustass couple who were standing behind them. Kidd had this stone hard expression-but he always had this look. Law, on the other hand, created hundreds of different emotions within an hour. This moment the doctor was smiling. This reassured Sanji that Zoro was doing fine and the 'tense' stage had passed.

The pastor's voice alerted his attention.

"Now, you may kiss the other."

The two faced each other and there was a second pause, debating in their minds who was going to kiss. Zoro decided to lead, so he squeezed Sanji's hand tight and leaned forward. Sanji closed his eye and felt the soft, warm lips touched against his. It was tentative, but it had no hesitation to it. When they kissed, the audience cheered and showers of cut-up paper flew around the whole chapel like a blizzard.

As Sanji and Zoro walked down the aisle, getting covered in paper and confetti, the cook's face broke into a wonderful smile and kissed Zoro again.

They were happy, they were finally happy.

-.-.-

The night was lively with the vibrant sounds and lights from the chapel. Everyone was dancing, eating, or doing both. Sanji was mostly near the table with all of the food. It was one of the rare opportunities when he didn't need to cook. Of course, he dragged Zoro along with him, asking him to hold some plates with different types of food. Zoro was his usual self, to Sanji's relief. He was starting to doubt about Law's warning.

They sat down in their special seats for the newlyweds. For some reason, that table was close to Kidd and Law's, so the two pushed their tables together. The four ate peacefully and with etiquette. Since today was a formal wedding, Law thought about decreasing his meals, but when he heard it was a buffet, he scratched the idea off and went right on eating. Plus, he had lost the two kilos he had been arduously losing over the past few months, so there were no restraints.

The band changed from the upbeat songs to something slow and romantic. Law suddenly leaped out from his seat and pulled Kidd's heavy arms, "Come on! That's our song! Let's go!"

"Alright, but let me eat this chicken-"

"Come on Kidd! It's my favorite song!"

The crunchy chicken skin was touching the engineer's lips, but because Law whined, he dropped it on the plate, "Okay okay I'll go." He quickly wiped his hands off and took Law's hand, "You're really good at manipulating people."

"Only to you." Law replied sweetly. Kidd snorted and guided Law to the dance floor.

Sanji didn't realize he was watching the couple with envy when Zoro's hand cut in the view. He glanced up from his plate of cream spaghetti, "Hm?"

Zoro smiled, "Care to dance Sanji?"

Sanji nearly choked on the pasta. "Y-Yeah, I would." He quickly doused down a glass of wine and stood up to meet Zoro. They clasped their hands over another and they also walked to the dance floor. Other paired couples saw the newlyweds and moved away from the center so the two had enough space to dance. Once they were in the middle, Zoro dropped his other hand down and it rested peacefully on Sanji's hip. The cook blushed and did the same.

As they twirled and brushed their lips against each other's cheeks, the warnings Law had said earlier slowly faded away.

There was nothing to worry about.

-.-.-

The party lasted until midnight. All of the food was cleared off on every plate, so there were only few crumbs for the wild animals to eat. Some of the guests had danced their night away and were sleeping in sporadic places: over or under the tables, lined up chairs, and even the stairs to the chapel. Some, like Zoro, had drunken the whole night and was half-awake and half-asleep. Thanks to the people of the chapel, the villagers were coaxed to head back home and sleep for the rest of the night.

Sanji peeled Zoro off the ground and dragged him to the room where Law had earlier reserved. The cook thought it wasn't a great idea to make his husband so drunk that he couldn't do anything, but Law suggested this idea was best.

_It's probably better, since he wouldn't think, and thinking is bad for Zoro. _Law's words repeated in Sanji's head.

Sure, but the cook's painful memory resurfaced. The night when Zoro proposed included a happy, drinking Zoro. That time, Zoro was still fine; this Zoro wasn't able to stand up. Sanji worried about what the man was going to do without his brain controlling his body.

When he dropped Zoro onto the bed, Sanji left the room for a moment to take a brief shower. The dancing, eating, laughing, and talking made him sweat. He wanted to be clean for this special night. He took his time washing every part. When he felt satisfied that he was squeaky clean, he wrapped a towel around himself and entered the bedroom where his husband was.

Sanji stood at the door and stared at Zoro. The man was sitting up and stared at Sanji with eyes wide open. Apparently, the heavy drunkenness Zoro had earlier was blown away because his eyes were clear. He was sober and was blinking a few times.

"W-Where are we?"

"In a hotel." Sanji whispered in a low husky tone.

"H-How did I get here?"

Sanji crossed his arms, "I carried you here because you were lazy to even walk." The cook slowly approached the bed, tugging at the end of his towel playfully. He watched Zoro's eyes intently, skimming around for any signs of desire.

Zoro's eyes were stuck on the towel wrapped around Sanji's waistline. The blush was crawling up to his cheeks, "I-I ...er, thanks."

Sanji was now on the bed and was crawling on top of Zoro. He could slightly hear the rash breathing coming out from the other man. The cook smiled, "You're welcome." He licked the corner of his lips in hopes to tantalize Zoro, but the man was too overwhelmed he couldn't move an inch. Sanji sighed, but he leaned close to Zoro until his lips were hovering over the other.

"Come on Zoro. Please take me."

Whatever was holding Zoro down was broken and he lunged forward, smashing his lips onto Sanji's. The cook immediately parted his lips so that Zoro's tongue could enter. Their tongues fought for dominance, but tonight Sanji succumbed because he wanted Zoro to take control. He gently pulled Sanji into a deeper, passionate kiss. It was a kiss the cook had never had in such a long time. He didn't remember Lucci kissing him like this. It was powerful but also comforting.

Zoro broke the kiss, but went exploring other parts of the cook's body. Sanji moaned when Zoro's lips trailed down to his neckline, one of his weak spots. Something flickered in the green man's eyes and he dove into the slender neck, wanting to hear and see the cook go crazy. The cook encouraged him by threading his hands through Zoro's hair and pulling him closer to his own body. He arched his back and rubbed their groins together.

Suddenly, hands were outstretched and Zoro tore himself away from Sanji. The cook blinked, eyes wide and filled with disbelief. He stared up at those dark gray eyes, asking why Zoro had stopped. Why did Zoro look like he had drunken poison? There was definitely something wrong.

Zoro wanted Sanji all this time, and here he was, half-naked and presenting himself. There was passion, heat, and love burning in both of their eyes. But while they were making out and Sanji grinded him, Sanji's was rock hard but Zoro's was soft and would not get any harder.

Hundreds of doubts arose and bamboozled Sanji's mind, but all noise ceased when he felt something warm falling onto his face. The liquid came together in a large droplet and trickled down into his parted lips. It was salty, and then the cook raised his head to see Zoro crying.

"I...I can't, I can't Sanji-"

Sanji sat up and touched Zoro's face, "Why...why Zoro?"

Zoro shook his head furiously, "I-If I take you, you'll go away." Tears were pouring out from his gray, wavering eyes. Pain, so deep and with despair, was making Zoro shiver uncontrollably. "I-I finally, finally, married you. But if I touch you, you'll say its rape and you'll leave me...I...I don't want you to go..." Zoro's voice trailed away for he broke into a fit of sobs.

Sanji stilled as he stared up at his sobbing husband. The cook now knew what feared Zoro. His husband knew that this was real, so thankfully he was not in a dream state-and this meant Law's hypothesis was wrong. But because of his previous crime, Zoro couldn't lay a finger on him. Like Sanji who didn't want to see Zoro again for the fear of being raped, Zoro was afraid of touching Sanji again for the fear to be called a rapist.

Sanji reached out and brushed his hand across Zoro's face. He caught a teardrop onto his finger and he carried it into his mouth. The other man watched Sanji's slow movements, and not a tear had fallen during that process.

Zoro didn't seem to understand yet, but things had changed. Sanji wasn't the old Sanji anymore. He loved Zoro and he wanted to be with him. No matter how rough Zoro might do it, Sanji would not utter that hideous word that separated them for twelve years. Sanji took Zoro's hands into his and brought them to his lips.

"Zoro, just today we swore an oath to always be together for eternity. I'm not attempting to break that promise. I swear that in the morning I will be sleeping next to you and holding your hand. When you open your eyes, mine will open too. I'll kiss you on your lips and say 'good morning.' Don't be afraid because I'm not afraid." Sanji squeezed his hands tight, sending the message through the core of his hands.

Zoro squeezed back and he leaned forward until his forehead touched the intertwined hands.

"I'm free to have you...?"

Sanji whispered his reply as gently as a calm breeze, "I am yours. Please, do whatever you wish to me."

Zoro let out a long, sigh as if he was holding his breath. Sanji's hopes were answered when Zoro's trembles had ceased. Zoro now trusted him with his word. Caution, doubt, and fear finally unshackled Zoro. The burning want sparkled back into his living eyes.

He took everything slow. He caressed Sanji's sensitive spots with love and affection. He kissed him and left marks that Sanji would surely show off to Law tomorrow morning. Sanji writhed and moaned sweetly when Zoro's hand went down to cup his throbbing hard erection. Zoro stroked it with quick movements while gazing intently in Sanji's eye to make sure he was doing it right. And when Zoro pushed himself in, he made sure that he didn't hurt Sanji.

Sanji didn't need to worry about the pain or the harsh thrusts because Zoro hit the right places that made the cook feel like he soared up to heaven. Their kisses became sloppy; their lips almost never connected for tongues seemed to get into the way. Heated passion enveloped the couple as they neared their climax. When they both came, the last tears fell from their eyes, gratefulness that they reunited and finally became as one.

Zoro slid out and collapsed beside Sanji. He pushed away the wet bangs away from Sanji's beautiful flustered face. The man smiled, a true wonderful smile, and it was made possible because Sanji opened the boundaries. He kissed the cook twice on the lips and once on the cheek before falling asleep. Zoro was knocked out completely and was snoring within seconds. The mental strain did a lot to his husband, and although Sanji kind of expected another round, he let Zoro rest.

Sanji remembered Zoro saying that they weren't young anymore, and he chuckled amusingly. He slid his hands into Zoro's and held it close to his heart. Maybe when Zoro woke up, he could ask him to have sex with him again. But for now he was also going to sleep, so he could wake up and kiss his husband good morning, just as he promised.

**The End**


End file.
